CHAPTER 24

ajay

I felt Nick behind me as I stood at the kitchen island washing dishes after the amazing dinner Nick had made us. It all felt surprisingly domesticated, this, doing homely chores together. I liked it way more than I wanted to admit.

The sun was low in the sky after another warm day, the light blue just about ready to change its colours.

"Who would have ever thought rubber gloves could be so sexy?" Nick mulled, leaning his arms around me, enclosing me in between the island and his body. He kept an inch of space between us but I could feel his warmth everywhere as his breath tickled the back of my neck.

"Oh, I don't know," I said with a grin. "I would have thought this sound was plenty sexy," I added, pulling on the glove and letting it snap back against my skin.

"Mmm, the things you do to me, Ajay Olivier," Nick returned, nuzzling my neck as his body pressed up to mine. I dropped the saucepan into the water, arching my neck to give him better access as his hand snaked under my t-shirt, pulling me taut against him. "I want to do dirty, dirty things to you."

"Please tell me what could be dirtier than what you did to me last night?" I returned, a little more breathless than I would have liked.

"You liked that did you?" he chuffed, still teasing me with his mouth as he sucked on my neck. "You liked me marking your body as mine? Masking you in my scent?"

"Maybe," I rasped, not ignoring the way his mouth curved up into a smile against my neck.

"Maybe I'll let you do that to me," he returned, biting down and making me moan. "You want that?"

"Yes. Yes I want that," I panted, dropping my head on his shoulder as his hands traced my skin, teasing me lower as he palmed the front of my shorts.

"Then finish with that saucepan and I'll let you come upstairs and paint me," he returned, nipping on my neck.

"You want me to finish the saucepan first?" I grimaced. "What kind of sadist are you?"

"The kind that loves watching you squirm," he returned, tightening his grip on me.

"You're just going to stand there like that are you? While I finish the saucepan?"

"Yep. Don't want you forgetting exactly what I want from you. And I want your paintbrush ready to go."

"Believe me. There is zero chance I am forgetting what you just promised me," I returned. Nick chuffed out another laugh but he didn't let me go as I valiantly tried to finish off the dishes, both of us clearly anxious for the show to go on. But he'd made me wash the last of the dishes so I took my merry time making sure every last dish was spick and span while he snickered into my neck.

I drained the water from the sink before slowly turning in his arms, pulling the gloves down my hands as I did so.

"I believe it's my turn to tease now," I quipped, winding my arms around his neck. The evil smirk Nick sent me was pure sin, a promise in there that I was eager to extract.

"Let's go to bed then, pretty boy," he returned.

No sooner had I dropped my arms from around his neck than the unmistakable buzz of the garage roller door opening had us stopping in our tracks. Nick's shoulders sagged as he knocked his head up to the sky.

"Why, Lord? Why?" he groaned.

I could only laugh, reaching down to have my turn to palm him. "You'll just have to hold onto that thought," I said.

"Oh, I will, baby," he returned, deadly serious as he took a step away from me, adjusting himself as he did. "You're not going anywhere."

I was still smiling at him when the door to the garage opened and Dane stepped through, eyes swivelling between me and Nick where we stood facing each other in the kitchen.

"Hey," he said, eyes avoiding mine as he dropped his keys on the hall bench and took a couple of steps towards us. I watched him the entire time, wondering why he had chosen now of all times to return. We only had a few days before summer break was over. I'd assumed he would be staying in Sydney.

"How's Dee?" I asked. Nick had folded his arms over his chest at the arrival of his brother who suddenly felt like an intruder on our little idyl. Even though he had way more right to be here than I did.

"She's good," Dane returned a little distractedly. He held his phone in his hand, twisting it nervously between his fingers.

"Good," I returned. I glanced at Nick, not quite sure of what to make of his brother suddenly turning up like this, unannounced and without his girlfriend in tow. Nick raised an eyebrow at me but said nothing as we both watched Dane.

"Can I talk to you?" Dane suddenly asked, the direction of his question unclear until his eyes landed on me. I tried not to bristle but there was something about the way Dane was looking at me that gave me pause. I heard Nick huff but he said nothing as I nodded at Dane and he let out a sigh of relief.

"Guess I'll go take a walk then," Nick sighed, instantly causing my gut to clench. He shouldn't have to leave like this. Not in his own house.

"You can stay," I said to him. Nick glanced across at his brother once before shaking his head.

"I'll be out on the beach," he told me and I could only stand and watch him leave.

Dane exhaled a long breath as I swivelled to face him, leaning my elbows up against the island bench. He took a step towards the kitchen before sitting down heavily on one of the island barstools, a heaviness to his shoulders.

"I owe you an apology," he said, surprising the hell out of me. He glanced up at me then, a look of contrition in his eyes that made a small part of me feel just a tad smug.

"Why?" I asked, eyebrow raised.

Dane sighed again. "Because I've been a shitty friend to you," he admitted. I nodded, not quite ready to let him off the hook before he pressed on. "I should have listened to you. About Kira. About Nick. About everything really."

"Yeah. You should have, Dane."

"I know. I was just … honestly, I was just being selfish and pigheaded about it all. About Nick especially. All I saw was you rushing to end what I thought had been a really great relationship with Kira, ending our little foursome which I had also thought had been really great. But I know now that what you had with Kira was never … well, you weren't happy with her and I should have seen that and respected it."

"Thank you," I sighed, pleased to hear him admit what had seemed so obvious to me.

"And then I saw you … down here. How happy you seemed, so carefree and at ease with yourself. Happier than you ever were back home. I could tell. And I think Nick had a lot to do with that. But I've always had my issues with Nick. You know that. And it just seemed to me like he'd use any opportunity to get back at me, even getting in between our friendship and even your relationship with Kira."

"That's a little messed up, bro," I said.

"Yeah. I know," Dane agreed, hanging his head. "Kira finally confessed everything. Last night. She told me and Dee that she'd made the pass at Nick, not the other way around. And then she broke and told us about all the cheating all while trying to insist how much she loved you and wanting our help to get you back. You knew about the cheating, didn't you?"

"Yeah. I knew."

"Okay. Well, I'm sorry, man," Dane said sincerely. "Dee and I are both sorry. Kira is really not who we thought she was. I should have believed you. Without question. I really am sorry."

I sighed. "I probably would have preferred the apology before you heard all that from Kira," I told him. "But thank you for coming down here to tell me anyway. I appreciate the apology."

"Do you forgive me?" he asked.

"Yeah, Dane. I forgive you," I said, returning the smile tinged with sadness that he sent me. "But you know I'm not the only one you owe an apology to."

Dane sighed really heavily this time, head dropping to his hands on the island bench. "Yeah. I know."

"He's outside on the beach," I pressed, needing this to happen before I really made things right with Dane. This bothered me in many ways, this impasse between the brothers. Dane had told me a lot of stuff about Nick over the couple of years since I'd known him, none of which held any truth to the beautiful, selfless, amazing man I had come to know.

I watched as Dane climbed to his feet, looking like a man being sent to the front lines as he trudged to the back door. I watched him as he stepped down the deck stairs until I couldn't see him any longer. I paced the kitchen for a few minutes, kind of anxious to be out there with my man, to make sure everything was okay.

It got the better of me, this need to protect Nick and I found myself stepping out onto the sand after I couldn't wait any longer. My eyes skirted the beach between Nick's house and the water before landing on the two boys as they sat with a foot of space between them, awkwardly looking out to the sea.

But there was no obvious tension between them and it felt like now might be an okay time to approach. I padded over the sand to the boys, only now dawning on me that they had become two of the most important people in my life, one dark and pale and serious, the other golden and light and so full of life. Total opposites really except for the last name they shared and the blood pumping in their veins.

They both glanced up at my approach, Dane with a cautious grimace, Nick's eyes brightening when they landed on me.

"How are my two favourite boys going?" I asked. Nick didn't wait for my permission before he tugged on my hand, pulling me down onto his lap before planting a kiss on my lips.

"Okaaay, so this is really happening then," Dane half grimaced, half smiled as I just snuggled into Nick's warm, safe arms and smiled back at my friend.

"You've missed a lot," I told him.

"Well, no, I didn't miss this," he returned, gesturing between the two of us. "Even if the girls both refused to believe me."

"Better get used to it," Nick added, wrapping his arms around me as I leaned back against him.

"It's still weird," Dane returned, eyes shifting between me and his brother.

"Not to me," I said, turning my face up to share another quick kiss with Nick. I would never get enough of kissing those lips.

"Nope, definitely still weird," Dane returned but there was a smile tugging at his mouth that made me think he'd come around to this. This idea of me and Nick.

Even if it was only just for a few more days.

"So, are we all sorted with our issues?" I asked, looking between Nick and Dane. "Got everything out in the open?"

"That might take a little longer than one evening on a beach," Dane said with a rueful grin, leaning back on his elbows.

"Want me to have a go at summing it all up?" I suggested, watching as Nick pinned me with a wry grin.

"Be our guest," Nick returned, gesturing magnanimously with his hand.

"So, Dane is jealous of Nick because of the way –" I started before I was interrupted by a very indignant, "I am not jealous, thank you," from Dane. I levelled him with a look.

"Will you let me finish, please?" I said. He nodded and I smiled before rephrasing. "Dane is jealous of the way Nick lives his life with his carefree, easy-going nature. It's because Dane always puts way too much pressure on himself to achieve and doesn't know how to let go. I'm not finished," I said, holding up a hand as I felt Dane start to protest.

"And Nick has always felt like he could never live up to Dane's achievements, academic that is, or gain his dad's approval," I finished. I glanced between the two brothers, noting the way they were both looking at me with a curious expression on their faces, the only time I had ever seen a family resemblance. It almost made me laugh.

"You're not just a pretty face, are you?" Nick commented, pressing a kiss to my temple.

"Occasionally I like to surprise."

"I mean … you're not exactly wrong," Dane admitted softly, sifting sand through his fingers. "Dad always pushed me harder and yeah, I guess I never really knew how to stop caring about grades and stuff. But it always seemed like when I got a good grade they kind of just expected it of me but if Nick did something mildly good it was all break out the best wine and the fine china."

"Dad always used to say to me, why can't you be more like your brother," Nick admitted.

"I always felt like Mum favoured you more than me. I mean, I know she did. I could never compete with you in her eyes," Dane said.

"That's not true. Mum is so proud of you, Dane. But also Mum always just got me, you know?" Nick said quietly. "She always stood up for me when Dad would have a go, like she always knew I wanted to live a different life the way I wanted to live it."

"Yeah, I guess," Dane reluctantly conceded.

"I always knew academics was not for me," Nick continued. "But I was always so jealous of how talented you were with music. Like everything you touched you were just automatically good at."

Dane huffed a soft laugh. "Yeah, well I was jealous of how you made friends so easily. Like everyone in town knows me as Nick's brother. I could never make friends like you do."

"You just make friends differently. Deeper connections with just a small group of friends," Nick pointed out. "Nothing wrong with that."

"Yeah, I suppose that's true too," Dane conceded. I could see the thoughts ticking in his head, hoping we were coming close to some kind of détente. "Truth is, I'm actually happy that you seem to be doing so well down here. I guess I always turned my nose up at small town life but I can see this place is home to you."

"It's your home town too," Nick pointed out.

"I know. I've just never felt like I fit in here," Dane admitted.

"I guess we both just needed to find our place in the world," Nick said, squeezing me tightly.

The silence was easy and companionable and I felt like a whole heap of long-held barriers had just fallen around us.

"See? I knew there was some common ground to be found," I said, holding in my smile.

"That's you, baby," Nick returned, nuzzling my neck. "You're the common ground."

"Nope. Still weird," Dane commented but there was a genuine smile on his face this time as he watched me with his brother. "Have you told your mum about you and Nick?"

"Not in so many words," I admitted. "But I've been sending her photos of me and Nick the past couple of weeks, enough that she finally started asking who he was."

"How about we send her another photo that clears up any remaining confusion," Nick cut in, reaching into my pocket to pull out my phone. "If that's what you want," he added as a quick afterthought, holding my eye.

I smiled at him, absolute certainty about what I wanted. "Yeah, that's what I want." He smiled at me so genuinely I felt it all the way to my toes.

He unlocked my phone and held it out in front of us, me sitting between his legs, his arms wrapped around me and me holding him. He pressed a kiss to my temple as he took the photo and I couldn't wipe the smile from my face.

He held the phone out and we both looked down at the picture on the screen. The sky was awash in smudges of apricot and pinks behind us as a couple of evening stars twinkled in the dying light. We looked good together too, him with his long, golden brown locks and sparkling eyes, me with a happiness and contentment that had been missing for a long while, at least since I'd been living in Sydney.

I captioned the photo Golden hour and then sent it to my mum before I could think about it. My phone pinged with her response a moment later.

And then before I could overthink it I added -

I angled the screen up to Nick, letting him read my exchange with my mum. His arms clutched tighter around me and I felt him suck in a shaky breath.

"Yeah," he said quietly, a smile tugging at his lips. "I'd love to meet your mum."

I grinned before shooting off a last text to my mum.