Chapter Twenty-Seven
KALLEN
Dan is beside me when I wake up, his arm draped over my belly from behind. Body pressed against mine. His hand is resting on my hand, his touch soft and gentle.
My groin tingles at his touch. He’s breathing slumber-heavy, the closeness between us creating a toasty warmth under the blankets, air conditioner doing its work outside the bed.
This has never happened before – I’ve never been held like this; never cuddled. What do I do? Do I stay and wait for him to wake and realise what he’s doing? Or do I wake him up?
It comes to my attention: I never heard him get in last night. Not that I should be worrying about Dan getting in because
1. We’re not together, and
2. He’s an adult and can stay out however long he wants on a work trip, with whomever he wants (even if it’s Shannon Patsy).
Remember: Dan told you that he’s gay.
I remind myself as I slink out of his grasp and out of bed, quietly, while he rolls over and stays asleep. I, too, remind myself while taking an extra-long shower, using a dollop each of the fragrant botanical shower gels.
Dan’s awake by the time I’m out of the shower and inside the walk-in closet. He’s still in bed, yawning, scrolling on his phone. ‘Ready for a jet ski on the river today?’ he calls out.
‘I don’t know, Dan. Are you ready for a jet ski on the river today?’ I bite back, slipping on some board shorts and a T-shirt.
‘I don’t know. Yeah, I think I am,’ he shrugs, still underneath the bedcovers. ‘Why are you being all rhetorical with me?’
I let out a stifled sigh before closing the bedroom door.
I wear my sunglasses all the way to the breakfast buffet. Not just to hide my narrowed eyes of annoyance, either, given it’s quite sunny already.
A beautiful day in paradise. Try to enjoy it, Kallen.
Maybe after the jet ski and wine tours, I’ll go on a little solo walk. Feels like it might be needed. Oh yeah, it’ll be needed alright.
There’s Shannon Patsy, waving at us from the balcony. She’s snagged the most scenic table in the restaurant already, overlooking the Noosa River. I give her a little wave before helping myself to a serving of scrambled eggs and bacon.
Standing by the toaster while my slice of bread cooks, I look out to Dan, who’s already hugged Shannon and is now sitting with her. They’re both laughing like they were last night, and this time I don’t have Heather and Bec to save me from these two.
At least the view is spectacular from the restaurant’s wrap-around balcony. A panoramic distraction in the form of a vista.
Shannon looks at me as I near the table with my full plate of food. ‘Good morning, Kallen. Oh wow, you really aren’t holding back on the buffet.’
‘Gotta get my money’s worth,’ I quip, sitting down beside Dan. ‘And by that I mean, content’s worth, since it’s mostly what I pay with now.’
Shannon glances at Dan. ‘Dan and I were talking about that last night. Content being its own currency these days.’
‘Yep. You can be poor and rich at the exact same time,’ I say, holding up my glass of apple juice as though I’m making a grand announcement.
‘Amen to that,’ Shannon says, taking a sip of her latte.
‘That’s what I need first,’ Dan says, eyes locked on her latte glass.
Shannon raises her hand, and a waiter saunters over within seconds. She gestures for Dan to order.
‘Hey yeah, can I please just get an almond latte?’ He turns to me. ‘What did you want?’
‘Long black for me please, splash of cold water.’ I almost feel ostracised for saying so.
But my preference is to taste the bitterness of the coffee to match the bitterness in my soul.
Shannon asks what we’re up to today, and so I get a vicarious rundown of our itinerary as Dan tells Shannon our plans. Her morning looks a tad different from ours. She’s got a modelling shoot with h er own professional photographer at the hotel while we’re out on a jet ski.
Then she’ll be heading on a group media trip – same one as us – to a local vineyard for lunch and wine tasting.
My eyes tighten when I learn this, but Dan and Shannon can’t see that through my sunglasses.
‘Heather and Bec have the same lunch on their itinerary as well,’ Shannon tells us. ‘They’ve really got us media rivals bonding on this trip.’
‘We’re not really rivals though, are we?’ I wink at them both through my sunglasses.
‘Well, I mean, we are when we’re working,’ Dan says, turning to me, then back to Shannon. ‘Doesn’t mean we can’t all be friends. We’ve got a similar goal.’
‘Mmm, yeah, friends,’ I mumble gruffly while Shannon nods. Oh, gosh, I’m an arsehole. ‘Sounds good,’ I then smile, diffusing the oil rig about to blow in my brain.
I’m staying at a beautiful river. Everything’s going to be okay.
*
After breakfast, Dan and I wander back to our room, pack a day bag each – including most importantly the drone lent to us by the hotel – and head down to the riverfront, sunlight beaming on the water’s surface.
A buff, scruffy man wearing a polo shirt that looks like it’s about to burst open from his muscles greets us at the boat ramp, standing in front of a jet ski. He sends us a wave, calling out, ‘Hey fellas! You must be Dan and Kallen .’
‘Hey, yeah, we are,’ Dan says, wiping his forehead. Warm day already.
‘I’m Jerry and this is Pearl.’ He points at the bright blue jet ski planted in the shore.
‘Oh hey, Pearl,’ I josh, waving at the vessel, which gives me equal amounts of excitement and fear.
Jerry’s eyes dart at me. ‘So, you wanna go first?’
Dan points to the drone. ‘Great idea. The lighting looks perfect for drone footage at the moment.’
‘Uh. Um, sure,’ I agree. ‘But I’ve never been on a jet ski before.’
‘We’ll go slow, mate, don’t you worry,’ Jerry says, sending me a firing gun hand.
Cumbersomely, I hand my backpack to Dan and approach Jerry and Pearl, who are becoming acquainted with one another, soon to welcome me on the back. ‘Are you sure you don’t want me to fly the drone and you go first?’ I ask Dan, who’s already setting up the camera.
‘Kallen, you don’t know how to fly a drone,’ Dan confirms. ‘Plus, I get seasick on the back of jet skis, remember?’
‘Let me know when you’re ready to fly,’ Jerry says.
‘All right. We’re ready to fly.’
‘Jump on, Kallen,’ Jerry calls out encouragingly. ‘And hold on.’
‘Okay, okay,’ I answer to the summoning, hopping on the back of the jet ski, a movement that seems ever-so alien to me. Jerry starts the engine, and it purrs to his touch.
I give Dan one last look before take-off. ‘If I die, my belongings and money go to Blake, okay? ’
When Dan shakes his head in amusement, I’m reminded (again) of how dramatic I can be. But before he can answer me, we shoot off from the shore, not jaw-droppingly fast, but enough speed to feel adrenaline electrify my insides.
I hold on to Jerry’s muscled hips for dear life. The wind slaps my face, and my smile widens as we glide through the water toward the middle of the river.
As the drone flies above us, I look up, pull a toothy grin, and wave at the camera. Need to make the content as engaging as possible.
‘Hold on tight. We’re gonna go a bit faster,’ Jerry yells out to me, hardly audible over the whooshing sound of air travelling between us.
‘Roger that,’ I call back. However, I’m not prepared for how fast he means, especially when he manoeuvres the jet ski to start doing circles through the water. ‘Holy shit!’ I roar in response, only calming when our pace decreases.
After we start cruising through the water again, I watch the drone return to shore.
‘I tell ya, Kallen, I’ve lived here in Noosa for fifteen years, and every day is different around here,’ Jerry says once we’re at a cruising speed we can talk over. ‘Especially the river. It seems to look different every day.’
‘Interesting,’ I say.
‘You can ponder on that thought. I’ll get you back to your boyfriend,’ Jerry tells me.
I let out a cackle. ‘Oh, he’s not my boyfriend. He’s my coworker.’
Jerry joins in on a giggle. ‘Right. I just assumed by the way yo u talk to each other that you were a two-years-in-the-making married couple. My bad.’
Wait, what?
On that note, he speeds back to shore, me in a state of overthinking how Dan and I appear to people. Do we actually seem like a married couple? I don’t see it. Then again, the way we see ourselves is often different from how others perceive us.
By the time we reach the shore, Dan’s under a tree, eyes glued to the drone screen. ‘The footage looks amazing from above,’ he tells me when I step foot on land and approach him. ‘Once I edit it, it’ll look so great with the footage I got of the hotel yesterday.’
He meets my eyes. ‘How was your first jet ski ride?’
‘So much fun, obviously!’ I crow.
He burrows the drone controller back into its bag, setting his eyes on the jet ski. ‘My turn?’
‘Go for it, dude.’ Jerry gestures his hand toward Pearl.
‘Hell, yeah.’ Dan turns to me. ‘Wanna go for another ride?’
‘I could dabble,’ I say without hesitation, following him to the jet ski.
There’s certainly more room on Pearl than the snug ride with Jerry. However, it’s still a tight fit. And I still have to squish up to Dan’s backside, the inside of my thighs rubbing against his butt.
I’m not sure about this.
His hips fit nicely in my hands, though. Not too tight, still a little squishy as he’s hunched over. I think back to when I saw him shirtless in the office, and what his legs might look like under his swimming trunks. His thick arse.
Okay, Kallen. You need to stop now.
The front of my shorts extends. Oh dear. Not now.
We’re almost in the middle of the river, where we come across a slew of other jet skis, yachts, and boats. Dan slams on the breaks. I’m thrown a tad forward, slamming into his back.
Fuck. How awkward.
He must’ve felt that – my throbbing hardness prodding into the bottom of his spine. I quickly move backwards so I’m not touching him anymore. ‘S-sorry,’ I stutter.
He spins his head around, a slight smirk plastered across his face. ‘All good.’ All good? ‘Hold on,’ he then says.
To which I respond, ‘Aw fuck,’ holding onto his waist tightly, trying to think about anything but him so that my dick deflates.
Anytime now.
C’mon, the shore is getting closer and closer.
By the time we’re back on the sand, my penis is still jutting out like a fucking tree trunk growth. Dan hops off the jet ski first. I follow but turn around to pretend I’m gazing out candidly at the lake. When really, I’m tuckin g my newest-formed bone between my legs.
Peering down, it seems unnoticeable, so I turn around and walk to where Dan and Jerry are sitting by our belongings.
Dan hooks his eyebrows at me. ‘Good view?’
‘Great view,’ I blurt out. ‘I’m on r iver time.’
Dan glances at his watch. ‘Well, as much as it might be river time, we’d better head to the winery.’
‘Jet ski and a winery. What a day for it,’ Jerry says, standing and shaking both of our hands. ‘I hope you have a fantastic stay in Noosa.’
‘Thanks for having us,’ Dan says as we walk off towards the car.
We’re in a hurry now. Back to the hotel so we can catch a shuttle bus to a winery. I’m just glad the front of my shorts is relatively flat again.