Chapter Eleven #3
“Did your mom tell you how they own a whole chain of stores? Like Cherry’s but—” Will paused.
“Nothing like them, too. Johnson’s serves ice cream and bulk candy and fudge and there’s fifteen stores stretched across the Southern coast. My great-grandfather started the first one, but my grandfather and father expanded. And then expanded again.”
“And what, you’re supposed to be the new head of the business?”
“Um, well, no, not even that.” Will winced.
“That’s my older brother, Brewer. But they like to .
. .well, I did work for them for a long time.
Most of my life. It’s how I learned so much about business and also about ice cream.
But they always knew I’d do anything for them.
That I’d always be there to step in. To bail them out.
To go wherever they needed. I realized that I was getting lost. What I wanted.
What mattered to me, what made me me, was getting lost. They weren’t happy about me taking time off, but I did, and then I realized what I really needed to do was quit.
So I did. I came here, I built Cherry’s, and in a way, I designed it so I couldn’t be at their beck and call anymore.
Only my own. ’Cause I knew I’d want to do it, anyway.
” Will hesitated. “My mom called today. Wanted me to come help out at the new store on Tybee Island. I had to tell her no. Didn’t feel great. ”
Enzo thought he understood what Will was really saying. He’d wanted, he’d hoped, for some kind of happy medium. A place where he could be what his family needed and also be his own man. It was the same thing Enzo had fought and fought against, for so long, before he’d finally just had to leave.
Only after leaving Indigo Bay had he learned how to truly be Enzo Moretti.
“It’s definitely an irony that Indigo Bay is where you came to find yourself,” Enzo said wryly. “But I’m glad you did. Don’t get me wrong—there’s nothing wrong with this place. Actually as small towns go, it’s pretty neat. More accepting than I ever expected it would be.”
“But?” Will asked.
“Sometimes I think the problem isn’t this town, it’s me,” Enzo said quietly.
“There’s nothing wrong with you.” Will declared it firmly, with a confidence he shouldn’t possess. After all, they didn’t know each other all that well. Not yet, anyway.
“You don’t know that.”
“I know enough. I know someone who maybe doesn’t get Eliza’s story, but still senses the way it makes the rest of us feel, who understands the way love and hope intertwine together, isn’t a bad guy.” Will’s gaze was warm.
“It was your idea,” Enzo joked. It was easier to tease than it was to sit here and just feel Will’s earnestness. Not because he didn’t enjoy it; but because he wasn’t sure he deserved it.
Will raised an eyebrow.
“I’m not painting the story only because you asked me to,” Enzo corrected. “If the cutest guy you’ve seen in ages tells you what you to paint, you don’t say no.” He shot Will the most charming smile he possessed. “At least not right away, you don’t.”
Will flushed. “I’m not cute,” he stuttered.
“You totally are. And if you don’t believe me, go look in a mirror.” Enzo barely managed to tear his eyes away from his tanned handsome face. Which really, said it all, considering the glorious sunset in front of them. “See, you feel better already, don’t you?”
“Yeah, actually,” Will said. “Being near the water helps, always. But it helped to tell you, too.”
“Good.” Enzo nodded. “The ocean always helped me, too. Something about how it’s so consistent, no matter what, no matter what changes, it’s always there.”
Will nodded.
“Don’t get to it as much as I’d like, these days,” Enzo said. “But back when I was a teenager, me and a few others would raise hell on this beach. Throw bonfires. Drink too much shitty booze. Tear our clothes off and go skinny dipping in the dark.”
“That’d be a sight to see,” Will said.
“Not so much, back then,” Enzo admitted. “I was a skinny little brat. Very full of himself, despite that.”
He could feel Will’s gaze skim over his body now. And yes, he had grown into himself, finally. Physically too.
Maybe he’d never have broad shoulders like Luca, or a face that made grown men weep, like his cousin Ren, or the spectacular golden brown eyes of Gabe, another cousin. But he could look in a mirror now and not feel like he’d ended up the runt of the Morettis. A non Moretti.
“Somehow, I doubt that,” Will said, tone full of amusement.
Enzo was tugging off his T-shirt before he could decide this was insane and they most definitely should not be doing it. The line between the two was already blurred enough. So, he thought, what’s adding a little water to it?
“Well,” he said, “you game?”
Will looked shocked. He hoped it was more because he’d taken his shirt off unexpectedly and not because of what he’d seen underneath. “You mean . . .go skinny dipping? In the ocean?”
“Come on, don’t tell me a coast boy like you doesn’t know how to swim?
” Enzo teased, standing. It was still warm, with the last of the sun’s rays continuing to heat the air, and the ocean was definitely warm enough to swim in, considering it was June and these beaches were packed with people during the day, doing exactly that.
Though it wasn’t like that had stopped Enzo when he’d been that young, punk kid. They’d gone in all kinds of weather, stupid and reckless.
This was reckless too, in an entirely different way.
“I know how to swim,” Will said slowly.
“There you go,” Enzo said. He tucked his T-shirt and sweatshirt together.
Still, Will looked uncertain. Way too uncertain. Enzo decided it was time to put his money where his mouth was and reached down, flicking open the button on his jeans.
Will’s jaw dropped even farther.
“But we don’t have towels or . . .” Will trailed off as Enzo lowered his zipper. Leaving his jeans hanging on his hipbones, barely.
He’d had a hookup once mention he looked insanely sexy half-dressed like this, and even though nothing between them was supposed to be real, this felt real. Real enough that Enzo was kind of counting on that being true and not just something the guy had said to boost his ego.
“You need a towel?”
“We’re gonna be wet. The ocean is wet, Enzo,” Will said, still sounding way too reasonable. Way too logical.
“A+ reasoning. We’ll figure that part out after. Come on, stop thinking so hard.” Enzo reached out and grasped his shoulder. Squeezed. “Have a little bit of fun. We both know you work too hard. And isn’t that what you’re trying to do here? Find you?”
Will nodded. Licked his lips. “Alright,” he said. He pulled off his own T-shirt and Enzo nearly swallowed his tongue. A man who sold ice cream for a living should not have abs like that.
“I like to work out,” Will said, having the nerve to sound self-conscious as Enzo stared at his bare chest.
“An understatement,” Enzo mumbled under his breath. He’d been so ready to get naked, only a few seconds earlier, but now he was suddenly self-conscious himself. He’d had a feeling Will’s clothes were hiding a wet dream of a body, but he’d underestimated just how hot the guy actually was.
“Hey,” Will said kindly and reached out for Enzo, squeezing his bicep reassuringly. “You’ve got nothing to worry about, I promise. Now, where’s that smug little kid? I bet he’s in there somewhere.”
Oh, he was. Enzo had never been able to destroy him completely. His chin lifted, he toed off his shoes, and then he shed his jeans the rest of the way.
Will nodded in approval, dropping his shorts, leaving both of them clad in nearly identical boxer briefs, Will’s dark navy blue, and Enzo’s gray.
“You ready?” Enzo asked. Not sure he was quite ready himself.
“I thought we were gonna go skinny dipping,” Will said, taking an unfortunate step back, away from Enzo. But then he tucked his fingertips under the waistband of his boxer briefs and just tugged them right down.
Enzo was devastated. All his half-formed plans shattered around him.
Jesus.
No. he’s not here right now. And he’s not gonna be here, not with Will looking like a fucking snack.
Enzo tried to drag his mouth closed. Didn’t quite succeed.
“What is this? I thought you were so eager to go skinny dipping?” Will asked. “What about having some fun?”
“I can think of some fun we could have,” Enzo said, before he could snatch the words back.
Will laughed. “Skinny dipping, then,” he said and, without a shred of embarrassment, started down the dune, leaving Enzo behind with a picture fucking perfect view of his pale, gorgeously muscled ass.
“Fuck,” Enzo muttered. Then before he could think—or overthink—he shed his own boxer briefs and followed, skidding down the dune awkwardly, glad that he was actually behind Will. And not only because he got another really great view of that ass.
He watched as Will strode right into the water, no hesitation at all, proving that he was an ocean kid, just the same as Enzo.
The water hit Enzo’s ankles, lapping around his legs as he followed Will into the waves.
It was still warm from the hot day—and the many hot days that had preceded this one—but cool enough to tamp down a fraction of the arousal he’d felt ever since Will had tugged down his boxer briefs.
Spray dotted Will’s tanned broad shoulders, and he glowed reddish orange as the final dregs of the sun set.
He’d stopped, waiting for Enzo to catch up and they stood together, watching it, the waves covering them from the waist down.
But even then, the guy was gorgeous, and Enzo had trouble not looking at him.
“I . . .uh. . .hope that was okay,” Will said, breaking the silence.
Enzo glanced at him with surprise. “What was okay? You stripping down and giving me a show I won’t forget anytime soon?”
The flush creeping up his cheekbones was a delightful giveaway to what Enzo kept hoping were Will’s real feelings. Even as he told himself he knew this couldn’t go anywhere.
Maybe Will was the opposite of Enzo. Knew how to keep his mouth shut when he should.
But Enzo didn’t ever know when to quit.
“Isn’t this better than camping out in your cramped little office?” Enzo wondered.
“Yeah. Pretty good view.” But Will’s eyes were glued to him, not to the last gasp of the sunset.
“Mine isn’t too bad either.” A freaking understatement.
They swam there for a minute, treading water, regarding each other.
It felt like they were edging way too close to something that wasn’t fake at all.
But then how could it be? They weren’t doing this for anybody but themselves.
Maybe what they needed was another one of those over-the-top fake dates to remind him exactly why they were doing this. Why they kept circling each other. And why it couldn’t be anything more than the deep down yearning that kept tugging him towards Will, even as he knew better.
“We need to go out again.”
Will raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
“Oh yeah. Lots of cutesy nicknames, all the cuddles, the whole shebang,” Enzo said. “Stud Muffin.”
Will laughed and flicked water at him. Enzo shook it off, pushing his hair back, ignoring the way Will’s gaze traced his face. Ignoring the way he kept returning that particular look.
Waited a second, until Will was good and lulled into complacency before splashing him back, harder this time.
Unsurprisingly, that kicked off a water fight. Will was as good of a swimmer as Enzo and they circled each other, playing earnestly, but never getting too close.
Enzo knew he was far too aware of how Will was totally naked under the water—and he had a feeling Will was equally as attuned to that particular fact. It meant they kept their distance, but even that didn’t diminish their fun.
When they finally came to a stop, Enzo’s hair dripping as much as Will’s face, he turned to Enzo, suddenly serious.
“If you think we need to.” Oh. The fake date. “But I won’t be able to get an evening off until next week.”
“What about brunch?”
“Brunch?” Will scrunched up his nose.
“Don’t tell me you don’t like brunch.”
“I do. But weekend mornings are for ice cream prep. I can’t take it off. What about Monday night? We’re closed.”
“Alright. Well, this weekend I can work on the mural and when I’m not, I can swan around Cherry’s, staring longingly in your direction.”
“Is that just an excuse for me to feed you ice cream?”
It hadn’t been, actually, but if Will wanted to pretend his ice cream was the only reason Enzo wanted to be around him, then Enzo wasn’t going to enlighten him.
“Sure,” Enzo said. He gestured towards the beach. “Come on, we’d better get out. It’s going to be full dark soon, and even though I stayed out way too late when I was young and stupid, we’d better not.”
There could be sneak riptides, and also critters hiding in the dunes.
Plus it was always better to walk back to town when you could at least see your hand in front of your face.
“You gonna get out first?” Will had the nerve to blush again. Like he hadn’t been the first one to strip down completely.
“I can’t believe you’re embarrassed now. Trust me, you’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about.” Nothing, Enzo nearly repeated a second time, but he’d already made Will’s myriad attractions clear. He didn’t need to pump the guy’s ego up any further.
“Maybe I’m just jealous that you got a good look at my ass on the way out here, but I didn’t get even a peak at yours,” Will teased. “Fair play and all that.”
“Fine, fine. But don’t expect too much,” Enzo grumbled. He had a skinny ass. He knew it.
But when he walked out of the ocean, the sand crunching beneath his feet, he could feel Will’s gaze on him, and then came the inevitable wolf whistle.
Will caught up to him a moment later and Enzo smartly kept his eyes forward, on their way back to the dune.
“Trust me, I’m not disappointed,” Will said earnestly.
“Thanks,” Enzo retorted, but he was pleased. Undeniably.
“See,” Will said a second later, as they were clamoring up the dune and Enzo was actually very glad for the near-dark, “a towel would’ve come in real handy about now.”
And okay, yes, it was awkward. Enzo could admit that. But it had been fun too. So much fun. He wanted to say he couldn’t remember the last time he’d had this much fun, but it had been the other night, when they’d gone to Rudy’s and pretended they were wild about each other.
“Next time you’re in charge of towels,” Enzo said as he pulled out his briefs from the pile he’d shoved them into.
“It’s a deal,” Will said, pulling on his shorts.