Chapter 13 #2
“Oh, yeah,” Enzo said. He leaned in and his lips brushed Will’s again. “That’s what I wanted to do this morning. Why do you think I ran away so fast? I wanted it so goddamn bad I thought I’d give in for sure.”
“I wanted you to,” Will confessed. “But then I thought . . .”
Enzo nodded solemnly. “Yeah, I know. This isn’t . . .it’s not a hot hookup, not like Kate said. I mean, I hope it’s also that. If I have to think about you jerking off in the bathroom alone one more time, I’m going to go insane.”
“It’s been less than twenty-four hours since I did that,” Will pointed out.
“Still,” Enzo said, grinning. “But it’s not that for me. Not just that. I know I don’t live here, and I don’t know if I’ll ever want to live here. But if you’re here, I know I’m going to be spending a lot more time here.”
Will was floored. “Are you serious?”
Enzo nodded. “I realized, I’ve never come home and spent so much time here and not wanted to ditch this town already. That’s because of you.”
“But I don’t want you to . . .stay here because of me.”
Enzo reached up and cupped his cheek. Much as he’d done right before he’d laid that hot-as-hell kiss on him earlier.
“I’m definitely not staying staying. I still work.
I’m still gonna do that. I wish I could tell how it’s gonna work but I do know this.
I’ll never regret spending more time here in Indigo Bay if it means spending more time with you. ”
It wasn’t a perfect speech. It wasn’t out of a movie, or designed to pull at every one of Will’s heartstrings and convince him that the white picket fence was in their joint future—but it was real. And that was the most important thing.
What else was Will supposed to do after a speech like that, with Enzo staring earnestly up at him, but kiss him again?
“I wish we’d done this last night instead,” Will murmured as he dipped his head low, capturing Enzo’s mouth. They kissed for a moment, for probably a whole minute, before he reluctantly stepped back. “I wish we didn’t have to work today.”
Enzo tried to reel him back in with a foot tucked around his thigh.
“Well, I can play hooky,” Enzo teased. “I’m actually ahead of where I’m supposed to be. I don’t think I’ve ever been so dedicated. I was kinda obsessed with hanging around here. Can’t imagine why . . .”
Will laughed. “Nope. No clue.”
“What are you doing after work?” Enzo asked, hope lighting up his face.
Will’s pulse accelerated as he leaned in. Enzo didn’t have to do anything to cause it other than merely exist. “I don’t know,” he said, intoxicated by the look of pure desire in Enzo’s dark eyes. “I was kinda hoping I’d be doing you.”
“Oh, I like you,” Enzo breathed out, and there was fire in his gaze now. Searing Will all over.
“Yeah? You wanna show me later just how much?”
Enzo nodded. “It’s a date.”
“Without a date?”
“I think we’ve been on enough dates without any of the benefits,” Enzo pointed out wryly.
“Exactly,” Will said. He took a step away and another. Before the thought of those benefits tempted him into kissing Enzo again. “Sadly, I actually do have to work.”
“And I should too.” Enzo sounded as reluctant as Will felt.
Will tried to look anywhere but at Enzo, flush high on his cheekbones, erection still visible in those worn shorts riding high on his muscular thighs.
Because if he didn’t, he wasn’t going to be able to walk away. He definitely wasn’t going to be able to walk away without his own matching erection.
“You good?” Enzo asked, his voice teasing. He slid off the desk. The only problem was even though he was on solid ground now, Will was always going to picture him like that, an irresistible vision.
“I’m not good, but I’ll manage,” Will said honestly.
Enzo laughed again, and he was rapidly returning to that nearly irresistible temptation as he straightened his clothes and fixed his hair.
Hair Will knew he’d been the one to mess up.
Turning towards the door, Will pictured a whole lot of unsexy things, and he was nearly there, when Enzo said, “One sec.”
Will should’ve protested, but how could he, when Enzo’s mouth was already on his, a brief but hot kiss, Will’s lips still tingling even as he pulled away.
“One more for the road,” Enzo said seriously, and Will groaned a little.
“I’ll meet you at the Inn, at what . . .ten?” Enzo questioned as Will reached out and latched onto the door handle like if it was solid and real under his fingers, then maybe he wouldn’t reach for Enzo, instead.
Will nodded and opened the door. They were safe now. Mostly. “Ten sounds good.”
“See you then,” Enzo said with an extra spicy smile as he sauntered past Will.
When Will finally returned to the kitchen and to Kate, his spatula was nearly entirely drowned in brownie batter.
She gave him a speculative look. “Christen your office?” she asked.
Will shook his head. “Of course not,” he said firmly. “We just . . .needed to . . .uh . . .talk. Privately.”
Kate chuckled under her breath. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s what you were doing. Talking.”
“Hey,” Will said, both embarrassed and smarting from the fact that his employee, his manager, thought he’d just fucked off to screw in his office. He wasn’t that kind of boss. He wasn’t that kind of business owner.
“Yeah?”
“I wouldn’t. I won’t. I don’t,” Will told her firmly. “Cherry’s means a lot to me. This thing with Enzo is . . .” Intoxicating. “New and exciting, but Cherry’s is still my priority. Always.”
Kate looked over at him, respect in her expression. “I didn’t mean to . . .you know what I meant.” She sighed. “Sorry. I really didn’t think you’d be unprofessional. But the way you were wrapped around each other when I came in . . .it was like nothing else existed.”
Nothing else did exist.
“I . . .well, uh . . .like I said. It’s pretty new.” Will bashfully rubbed his neck. Couldn’t tell Kate just how new it was. They were already supposed to have been doing this for nearly two weeks.
“Right,” she said knowingly.
He dug his spatula out of the batter and ignored how Kate laughed when he tried to scrape it off before taking it over to the sink to rinse.
Gave himself a little pep talk while he was at it.
You can think about the way Enzo felt like and tasted like and looked like, but you gotta get some work done too. It can’t happen again, if you don’t.
What he couldn’t think about was how Enzo was just outside. Only a few steps away.
He lasted all the way through prep. He got the baking done by the skin of his teeth. Helped Kate open. Make more ice cream. He ate lunch, mechanically shoving crackers into the container of chicken salad he kept in the walk-in for days he didn’t want to go out.
The difference today was that he desperately wanted to go out. To see what Enzo was doing. To just plain see Enzo. But he resisted.
All the way past lunch, to the lull of the afternoon.
Kate didn’t tell him to take a break. But after reviewing a handful of resumes for his new part-time employee and updating Cherry’s website with the new flavors of the week, he finally gave in.
Ducked outside, ignoring Kate’s knowing glance.
It was unsurprisingly hot, sun shining in his eyes as he rounded the corner.
Enzo was there, halfway up the wall, lounging on the scaffolding like the height didn’t bother him one bit, sucking down a water bottle with force.
He’d shoved a hat on his curls and taken off his shirt, his back a long tanned line, smooth and perfect.
Will swallowed hard.
Wanted to lick the sweat up his spine.
His cock was a hard, aching weight in his jeans as he stared, like a total creeper.
He nearly said something, but then, as he watched, Enzo plucked a paintbrush out of the back pocket of his jeans and dipped it into the can at his feet and then began to paint.
He was creating the outcropping, the high point Eliza stood on, Enzo realized, as he dabbed and brushed, something blooming out of nothing—out of just his imagination.
Will didn’t know how long he stood there, mesmerized, as Enzo unleashed his unbelievable skill and vision onto his wall.
He was beginning to understand why Enzo had been so pissed off when Will had thought, even for a minute, that he was vandalizing his building with graffiti that was rough, uncreative, without purpose. Nothing like what Enzo was really capable of.
He’d known that Enzo was going to keep doing mural painting.
It was his calling and his job, so of course he would.
He’d go on traveling around, to different cities, gracing them with his talent.
But now he really understood. Enzo was special.
His creations were special. It would’ve been an utter shame for him to be trapped here in Indigo Bay.
Will wanted him, but he wanted him like this. Being the best version of himself.
How was that going to work?
He lived here and Enzo didn’t?
That didn’t sound so great, but then the alternative, Will reminded himself, was worse: no Enzo at all.
Enzo had said he didn’t know how it was going to work, and Will would just have to trust him.
He was so lost to the work he didn’t even notice Will watching him, and finally, when the bright heat of the sun got to him, Will turned and walked back inside.
It’s going to work out; it has to. It can’t feel like this and not work out.
But Will knew that life didn’t, sometimes.
By the time Enzo got home, showered the sweat of the day off, and then took off for the Inn again, he was buzzing with anticipation and exhilaration.
Only by pouring himself into the work today, pushing himself hard into a focused zone, had he been able to resist the urge to beg Will to play hooky with him. To return to the bed they’d just left.
He didn’t know where his mother was—and didn’t really want to be thinking about her right now—but she wasn’t on the front porch like she’d been last night, so he headed straight into the Inn and up the staircase.
The point this time wasn’t necessarily to be seen, though Enzo wasn’t against being seen.