24. Zack

Ipacked up our snacks, set the basket off the bed, and lay back, holding my arms out wide in invitation.

Landon scrambled to attach himself to my side like a koala, same as he'd done when we were kids. Still a perfect fit after all these years, I realized while settling my hand on his lower back and atop the forearm he flung over my stomach. Perhaps, even better now that his legs could intertwine with mine, his groin resting against my hip while he snuggled his face against my chest.

"Even better than I remembered," he murmured, his hot breath inches from my nipple that pebbled with desire to be tugged and bitten.

Kissing his hair, I closed my eyes and released a shit ton of tension from my body with one heavy sigh over how right he felt pressed against me. I wanted nothing more than to live without drama, but I couldn't be upset that Landon was tucked not just along my entire side but into the corners of my mind as well.

But I wasn't ready to dissect or discuss my feelings.

My five days in paradise were supposed to be stress and angst-free, and while I'd had some good moments, it hadn't exactly been a restful vacation for the mind or heart let alone my emotions I couldn't categorize never mind accept.

"So how are we going to spend our final day on the island tomorrow?" I asked, needing lighter conversation, something to occupy my brain with.

"Callum said whatever I want, I get."

I snickered at the reminder, expecting I knew where his thoughts traveled, considering his lust for dick and the opportunity to get as much as he could handle in the time allotted to us. "Let's it hear, then."

"You're still up for anything?"

"Pretty much, yeah." Just no getting caught up in feels or admitting aloud how much I fucking loved having Landon in my arms again. That shit needed to stay buried beneath the surface of knowledge to anyone but me.

"We'll spend the day in my bed. All three of us. I want to be cum drunk, my ass aching and dripping, and my heart full to overflowing with memories of my fantasy come to life."

Sounded like a fucking fantastic plan to me except for that bit about going without a condom. If he and Callum wanted to fuck without them though, I didn't care. As for me, I would take the opportunity to get my fill of these two men before heading back home to chilly, wet Boston where I belonged.

But those plans for tomorrow didn't mean we had to keep our hands to ourselves today. I'd been instructed by my client to please Landon, and that gave me the green light for whatever I wanted too since there was no way in hell my old enemy-turned-lover would deny my touch.

"So what do you think?" Landon asked, a hint of insecurity in his tone that I hated to hear and couldn't allow.

In a flash, I rolled him beneath me and nestled my thickening dick against his. "Why wait? Callum's not here, but that doesn't mean we can't put this bed to good use."

He released an oomph noise as I took his mouth in a bruising kiss, and he set aside whatever he'd planned to say, wrapping his arms and legs around me like an octopus and clinging to me for dear life. He tasted of the weird cheese and wine, but beneath lay his natural sweetness I'd only gotten one taste of and could easily become addicted to.

We shared panted breaths when coming up briefly for oxygen but dove back in as though of the same mind, making up for thousands of lost kisses thanks to a moment in time that had changed the course of our futures.

I swallowed his whimpers, rutting against his hard length with my aching one until we both nutted. We panted, shuddering and making a mess in our shorts.

Eventually, we came down from our euphoric high, and I released his swollen, red lips.

Landon peered up at me, all that same love like when we'd been innocent kids shining at me like the rising sun.

I pushed up to plank on my elbows, sifting my fingers through his soft hair and wishing I had the strength to let go and drown in his amber gaze. "I shouldn't have left," I murmured the regret I'd carried with me for fifteen years.

His smile faded, the light in his eyes dimming.

"I never should have listened to your dad," I continued quietly.

"Wait." Landon's brow furrowed. "What about Father?"

"He offered me a thousand bucks and told me to get lost rather than have me hauled to jail for sexual assault. And I'd been hurt enough by your words that I took off without argument. I should have stayed in town though. Talked to you the next day and explained that I wanted you too but had only denied your gift because of your age."

"Fucking hell." Landon's eyes glinted, shooting off sparks as he tensed beneath me. "That's seriously what went down after I locked myself in my room like he'd demanded?"

I didn't shift away or stop stroking his hair, the need to set him at ease stronger than I'd ever felt. "I never would have gone otherwise. He gave me the means for a new start, and I thought I was making the right choice. I didn't—and I'm sorry."

"I forgive you."

I blinked down at him, my heart cracking wide open at his immediate and adamant reply. "Just like that?"

He shrugged a shoulder and relaxed into the bed beneath us again. "Yeah, because if you'd stayed, I wouldn't have sown my wild oats that led me to Callum or landed me on this deserted stretch of beach with one of the two hottest men on the face of the earth."

I didn't preen over his compliment. Nope. My mind focused on and was blown by the fact he could have zero regrets when earlier he'd seemed bogged down by guilt for his choices. Was changing your mind that simple? A plowing forward into a new truth with the intention of owning your thoughts on a situation?

"Kind of sounds like a story worth writing," I suggested rather than starting up a serious conversation that might tempt me toward switching my stance on relationships.

Landon leaned up to kiss me again rather than agreeing, his tongue flicking over my lips and seeking entry to my mouth.

Knowing him, he only wrote happily ever afters, and I didn't trust that for our future. Couldn't. Landon might be able to shift his patterns of thinking on a whim, but I wasn't capable of that superpower.

Still, I explored his tongue with my own, soaking in his affection, the little noises of enjoyment he made in his throat. I'd picked up on the fact he loved being kissed senseless, and spoiling him had always given me a sense of purpose and satisfaction. Yet something else Callum and I had in common.

I missed Landon's mouth on mine the second I pulled back but shoved that feeling into the recesses of my mind where they would hopefully get lost. "Let's swim. Clean the sticky messes in our shorts."

"You might have to carry me," Landon grumbled as I slid off the low bed, my feet hitting warm sand and sinking into its softness enough that the grains covered my toes.

"Gladly." I swung him up and over my shoulder, making him shriek with laughter that brought a grin to my face.

"Put me down!" He play-smacked my back, same as when he'd been a kid, and I went all Big Foot on his ass. He'd grown quite a bit taller, but I could still manhandle his lithe form.

"Nope." I took off across the burning white sand, his giggles pure music to my ears that trickled straight into my chest.

Fucking hell, these feels were dangerous red flags I had to shy away from.

Knee-deep in warm swells, I tossed him ahead of me, needing yet hating to have him gone from my arms.

"Fucker!" he cried out with flailing limbs before disappearing beneath the water in a splash of water droplets glinting in the sun.

I dove into the next wave to clear my head, breaking not far from him.

Hair plastered to his head, he grinned at me, sunlight making his eyes appear more gold than brown. He was too beautiful for his own good, a greedy yet sweet soul who only wanted acceptance and love.

Thinking back over our time together in paradise, I realized my bitterness had faded.

And as simple as that, I'd forgiven him without conscious effort.

Perhaps healing could be found for past trauma. But making the choice to trust a man with what remained of my heart wasn't something that could be done.