CHAPTER 23

ajay

I spent the next week with Nick, just the two of us in that big Hamptons house by the sea. It was probably the best week of my life filled with Nick and sex and surfing and even more sex.

We surfed every day and he took me on motorbike rides down the coast or inland to other little towns I'd never seen before. I played guitar for him every day and it always ended up the same way with me straddling his hips as he drove up into me. He held my hand as we walked up Caves Arches again and we packed the surfboards on top of his Jeep and drove to other surfing spots that I had to see.

That thing he had switched on inside of me was showing no signs of abating as several years' worth of pent up desire came out in full force. I honestly couldn't get enough of him, of having his mouth on every part of me or mine on his. Of having him inside me. It felt like he belonged there and he made me feel like I belonged to him, especially when he took me over and possessed me the way I never thought I'd let anyone do. I absolutely loved his body, every square inch of it. I loved his masculine scent and his taste and those manly grunts and sounds he made when he wrecked me.

I'd started this thing with him thinking I was maybe a little to the right on the sexuality scale he had first told me about. Now I was wondering if I was a lot further down that scale than I'd realised.

It would explain a lot.

It would explain why I would have happily spent entire days on end with him naked in bed, only needing to move for food or water. But Nick always reminded me there was more to life so we always made time for surfing or getting out of the house. I always knew I'd be rewarded with a kiss under the cold shower and usually more back upstairs in Nick's bathroom.

And then there was Rob and Mateo who dropped in every day or who we met up with at Paddy's for a drink and more pool sessions where I would team up with Rob and Nick with Mateo. Or sometimes they'd stay the night and Rob and Nick would smoke out on the back deck and I would share Nick's joint with him, a feeling of peace descending on me when we were together like that.

These boys were clearly important to Nick, so they were important to me too.

Kira had always tried to manipulate me into prioritising her over everyone else in my life and I'd always resented her for that. I would never be that guy to Nick. Even if I still struggled with the whole Mateo thing who still had not exchanged a single word with me in nearly four weeks.

But I trusted Nick. Even though I'd only known him a month, I trusted him.

My arms were tight around Nick's waist as he rode us on his motorbike towards Paddy's later that evening. One of my hands might have slipped under his jacket on the ride over but he didn't seem to mind the way my thumb was stroking his warm skin.

He parked the bike in the alley behind Paddy's, toeing down the kickstand as I climbed off the back.

"You should come with a warning label," Nick said to me, eyes alight as I pulled the helmet off my head. He was right there in front of me, hands tussling my curls the way I knew he would. The way he always did.

"Why?" I asked, a little tilt to my head.

"You know why," he smirked. "You're lucky I didn't run us off the road."

"You promised you'd keep me safe," I returned.

"That was before I had to deal with your pretty little wandering hands," he returned. I had noticed Nick always kept a respectful distance of space between us when we were out in public, like maybe it was something that he'd gotten used to doing over the years. Keeping back a part of who he was even though he'd never kept it secret that he was gay.

It was something I'd noticed but I wasn't entirely sure it was something I liked.

"What, you mean this?" I asked, breaching that space between us as I returned my finger to the firm skin of his waist, teasing him there as his eyes darkened.

"That is exactly why you should come with a warning label," he all but growled back at me, hand clutching my wanderings as a group of men passed near us, headed for Paddy's. Nick instantly moved a step away from me but I held on.

"You don't like touching me in public?" I asked. It didn't seem to match Nick to me, this reluctance to be himself in public.

He just snickered at me as he shook his head. "No, baby," he assured me. "If I had my way I'd always be touching you. Keeping it appropriate would be the challenge."

"Then why …"

Nick eyed me a moment, one eye squinting as he scrutinised me. "Are you really ready to be out in public?" he asked. "Ready for the scrutiny we'll definitely attract. Not all of it friendly."

"I guess I hadn't really thought about it," I admitted. "But I'm not ashamed to be out with you if that's what you mean."

Nick said nothing, eyes serious and fixed on me before he closed the gap again and brushed our hands together. "You're really something, you know that, Ajay?"

"Only with you," I assured him. "But either way it's cool. It's not like I should just assume you'll tell your friends about us either. That's totally your decision."

Nick laughed again before he knocked his head onto my shoulder. "Oh, Ajay, sweetheart. They already know."

"What? Really?" I asked, kind of shocked that he hadn't told me. "You told them about us?"

"Weeell, actually you kind of let the cat out of that bag," he said, pressing his lips together as he looked down at me. "All your Nicky's and big heart eyes gave it away."

"Shit," I huffed. "Sorry?"

"Don't be sorry," Nick replied, pressing a quick kiss to my lips. "I love it. I love that they know about us."

"Even Mateo?" I asked quietly.

The mood instantly plummeted and Nick's shoulders sagged a little. "Yeah. It's better that he knows too."

"And … and is he okay about it? About us?"

"I don't know, baby," Nick sighed, tugging at a lock of my hair and twisting it through his fingers. I let it drop, knowing this was always going to be a fraught subject for my man and the ex who was still an extremely visible presence in his life. But I ran my hand down his arm, entwining our fingers together. He looked up at me, a question in those pretty blue eyes as I squeezed his hand.

"Okay. Let's do this then," I said. I swear Nick's eyes brightened even as he looked at me with more emotion than I really knew how to deal with. I'd never held another guy's hand out in public either. I had no idea what to expect but all I knew was that I wanted to hold Nick's hand. I wanted everyone to know that he was mine and I wasn't afraid to claim him the way he deserved.

"You are …" Nick started before shaking his head softly. He closed the gap between us as his lips found mine, telling me what he was feeling without the words he hadn't said as his free hand wound its way into my hair. He moved our entwined hands to press between us as he kissed me in that alley, ignoring the people as they passed by us on the way to the pub.

I had never felt a kiss more deeply than I did right then in that alley beside Paddy's pub even though it was not like our usual kisses. This one was all sweetness and tenderness with maybe just a dash of spice as I let Nick know this wasn't just a fleeting summer fling for me.

Not even close.

I held Nick's hand tightly as we made our way inside Paddy's. The usual set of hellos greeted Nick on his arrival and though there may have been one or two curious gazes cast our way, nobody else there seemed particularly bothered. Or even surprised.

"Terry," Nick nodded as we made our way to the bar.

"Made it official then?" the bartender asked, pointing his chin in our direction.

Nick just smirked. "Yes. Now, how about those drinks."

"The usual?"

"Yep, the usual," he replied. And that was that.

"That wasn't so bad," I said, a teasing smile on my face.

Nick tugged me closer, leaning in to whisper in my ear. "Be prepared for the entire town of Esperance to know about us by the end of the night. Word travels fast in these parts and these guys here are a bunch of hopeless gossips."

"Hmm. Doesn't look like anyone's all that surprised though," I had to admit as I glanced around the pub.

"Oh these guys have been giving me hell since the first day I walked in here with you. Believe me, no one in here is surprised."

I could only laugh at that, secretly pleased that this town and some of the fairly tough looking bikie guys here in this pub all seemed to accept Nick. I was sure it wasn't as simple as that, he'd said as much to me already, but it was good to know.

I scooted closer to him and let my hand drift down his back, leaning my chin on his shoulder until Terry returned with our drinks.

"I'll put it on your tab," he said. "Enjoy, boys." He winked at us and I almost laughed as I recalled the way he'd said the same thing to us since I'd first joined Nick here at Paddy's. Like everyone in this town was in on our secret before even I was. Guess I really was slow on the uptake.

Nick kept a hand on my lower back as we moved towards the sofa. Rob and Mateo were not here yet so he pulled me down into the corner of the sofa and I pressed into his side as we shared a secret smile. He clinked his glass to mine and we drank, his eyes not leaving mine.

Rob sat down heavily beside me a while later, a pint in his hand and a smile on his lips as he took the two of us in, Mateo hovering in the background.

"Right then," he said. "Shall we get this pool tournament underway?" I grinned and nodded, glad to have at least this friend's approval my way as Nick and I moved out from the sofa.

And if his hands touched me a little more than before, if I found myself standing beside him, our pinkies linked and his eyes alight as he continued to trash talk me about my game, well then, who was I to stop myself from giving in to this thing between us. This thing that was by no means just a thing.

But I didn't quite have the words to describe what we were to each other. About what Nick was becoming to me. So I just let myself enjoy him, enjoy his town and his friends and not worry about the fact that our summer break was fast approaching an end.