Chapter 15
It was a little bit nuts to do this. Will knew it, and Will didn’t care.
It had been a really long afternoon—punctuated by a text message exchange with his mom that had made him briefly want to punch something—followed by an even longer evening.
Normally a day like that would’ve made him want to walk up the stairs to his room and fall face first into bed, but he’d known, even as busy and as crappy as things were, he had this to look forward to.
And he’d looked forward to it.
So much so that he’d actually had a spring in his step as he’d left Cherry’s, Kate shaking her head in disbelief and muttering something about falling head over heels.
The thing was: as Will approached the Inn, spotting Enzo, leaning against the porch railing, he wasn’t sure she was wrong.
It was nearly ten and already full dark, but it didn’t matter. Will couldn’t see anyone else; maybe it was the way Enzo looked so stunning in the moonlight, the shadows carving out his face like an old Italian painting.
Or maybe it was just Enzo.
“Hey,” Will said. “I should—”
But before Will could suggest grabbing a sweatshirt—it could get chilly after they got out—or a God forbid, a towel—Enzo gave a dramatic hand wave to the items sitting on the porch swing next to him.
“Yes, I got you a towel, Mr. Overly Cautious,” Enzo joked. “And I want you to know that you were not necessarily right before about the towel thing, but it was a cold walk home the other night, and I have a reputation to maintain, now.”
“And you didn’t before?”
Will came closer, then closer still, reaching out and tugging Enzo right into his arms.
“I did, but . . .” Enzo melted into him, like a popsicle left out in the sun.
Will kissed him then, because he couldn’t stand here, looking at his gorgeous face anymore, and not kiss him.
Kissing him back with enthusiasm, Enzo groaned in the back of his throat.
If they kept going like this, they wouldn’t make it past the property line of the Inn, and as much as Will craved Enzo, he craved more than the feeling of his hand on his dick.
“So, Honey Bunny, you ready for our swim?” Will asked, pulling back. It was amazing how much lighter he felt, when he shouldn’t be feeling like this at all.
But he’d already miraculously shed all that guilt like a skin he didn’t need anymore.
“I’m ready for something,” Enzo muttered, taking a step back. “That was almost unfair. I say almost, ’cause it was real sweet, too. Just like you.” He grinned, suddenly, and Will’s heart beat even faster. He would never get used to the way this man looked. Never. He didn’t even want to.
He wanted to feel this swoopy, butterflies-madly-fluttering-in-the-stomach, lavender haze way forever.
“Come on, then,” Will said and took Enzo’s hand and led him off the porch, towards the beach.
The waves were crashing along the coastline, loud in the silence, as they took the path through the dunes.
When they reached the strip of sand within easy reach of the water, Enzo stopped, depositing his bundle of towels on the ground and tugging his T-shirt up.
It was just as Will had imagined it, so many times, both long and fleeting thoughts all day. Enzo’s skin, gleaming silver and gold under the light of the moon, the knowing look in his eyes as he tucked his fingers under his shorts and pulled them down, nothing underneath them.
Will felt the thrum of desire spike through him but ignored it, following Enzo’s movements and shucking his own clothes.
Reaching out, Enzo set a palm against his chest, right where his heart was beating a hair too fast. “Rocco told me that you were hot,” Enzo mused in a quiet voice. “But he was wrong.”
Will laughed out loud. “Thanks? I think?”
“You’re so much more than hot.” Enzo said this very seriously.
“You’re so sweet and kind and gorgeous. Like you glow with all this inner light.
Hot’s just a guy on Grindr who spends too much money on the gym and fake tanner.
You’re . . .” He glanced up, eyes full of wonder and something else that Will felt, but was still afraid to name. It was too soon. It was too unexpected.
Yet he felt it, too, all the same.
Will kissed him, then, because he couldn’t say any of that.
It was too soon. Didn’t change a goddamn thing, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t floating around inside him unspoken, anyway.
Enzo pulled back a second later, eyes shining with mischief. “Race you to the water,” he said, and then he was running, so quick, his legs flashing in the moonlight, and Will could only chase after him, laughing the whole way.
They crashed into the water, and it was cool, but not cold, refreshing in the best kind of way, and Will laughed, joy spilling out of him as he kicked his legs and swam out past the first few sets of waves.
Enzo was right there, laughing too, his eyes lit up. “I think I beat you,” he teased as he floated close.
“Maybe you need a reminder that we’re both winners,” Will said, all faux seriousness.
“Do I?” Enzo grinned. “Then you’d better come over here and give it to me.”
But before he could, Enzo was swimming over, determination in his gaze. He wrapped his limbs around Will, tucking a foot determinedly around his knee and pressing their bodies together.
“You didn’t let me,” Will murmured, tipping his head against Enzo’s.
“I couldn’t wait.”
Will leaned in and kissed him again. And this time there was no reason to stop. Nothing but the stars above and the sea below, gently lapping at their skin.
Enzo’s mouth, hot and wet against his own, and then his body, rubbing against Will’s, the desire between them growing tougher to deny.
“Goddamn,” Enzo breathed out, his breaths coming in ragged gasps when they finally broke apart, Will’s mouth finding his neck, then drifting lower, to his collarbone.
Sucking a little hickey there, that would be hidden by his clothes, that only he would know was there.
“Remember the last time we did this?”
Will laughed. “I could hardly forget it. I think your naked body was permanently implanted in my brain. Every time I closed my eyes, I thought about you.”
“It was kind of a stupid, reckless, insane thing to do.”
“And it’s not now?” Will raised an eyebrow. “It’s full dark, now, Enzo.”
“That’s not why it was stupid, reckless, or insane. Getting naked with you was.”
“Yeah.” Will grinned. “It kinda was. We were playing with fire.”
“And I enjoyed it too much to worry about getting burned.”
Oh, they were in it now. Deep in the fire. And getting burned was the least of their worries. Enzo’s dick was pressed hard and insistent against his stomach, and he was thrusting now, just little ones, rubbing it against Will’s skin, like he couldn’t even help himself.
Enzo tried to reach down, palm Will’s dick, but their position and the slickness of the water helped a little, but it wasn’t quite slick enough, and their skin kept catching.
“Come on,” Enzo finally said, huffing in frustration, and he practically dragged Will out of the water, back to the towels. He flopped down and Will followed, bracketing his body with his own.
He wrapped a hand around Enzo’s cock and gave it a stroke, just as Enzo reached for his. Their mouths met in a fury of a kiss, and it didn’t take long at all for Will’s orgasm to hit, Enzo shuddering beneath him only a moment later.
“Wow,” Enzo breathed out, and Will rolled over, wet now with water and other fluids, onto his back.
“Yeah,” he agreed.
Hands down, this was the most romantic night of his life. Romantic and sexy and fun. Every time he was with Enzo, it was everything, a unique combination that he hadn’t ever found with anybody else.
“You know, our fake dates were fun. But nothing’s better than this,” Enzo said, a happy sigh accompanying his confession.
“Yeah,” Will agreed. Then he glanced over, shooting Enzo a knowing look. “I’m honestly not sure how fake those were, really.”
“Oh, so you liked me calling you Stud Muffin?” Enzo asked archly.
Will laughed. “I didn’t hate it.”
Reaching out and squeezing his bicep, Enzo said, “It felt true. Ridiculous, but also true, somehow.”
That felt like the best explanation that Will could come up with, so he just lay back on the towels and stared up at the stars, quiet for a minute.
He hadn’t intended to tell Enzo about the short conversation he’d had with his mom, hadn’t wanted to drag that into this night and ruin its flawlessness. But he found himself saying, anyway, “My mom texted me today.”
“Yeah?” Enzo rolled over and looked at him with concern. “Is everything okay?”
Was everything okay?
Was he okay?
He was frustrated, he was more than a little guilty, but he was holding firm. Will supposed that was the best he could do.
“Yeah, I guess so. She’s still pushing me to help them out with this store opening on Tybee.”
“They haven’t found anybody?”
“Oh, they found someone. And then they quit. My brother, Brewer, is even out there. And if you know Brewer, he’s not the kind of guy who likes to get his hands dirty.”
“Can’t they manage with him, then?”
“Not well.”
“So she pushed you again.”
“Guilted me, more like. And it wasn’t even untrue. I’m sure the stories she told me were true. I knew I should tell her I’d drop everything but . . .”
“If you do it this time, there will always be a next time,” Enzo said softly.
He reached out and took Will’s hand and squeezed it.
“I get it. I had to do that with mine, too. When I first went away to California, to art school, she expected I’d come home for every single break.
A long weekend? She’d book me a plane ticket.
I finally had to tell her I couldn’t do it.
I was trying to build a new life. She cried for days.
I felt worse than I’ve ever felt in my whole life.
It felt awful, but it was still the right thing to do. ”