When he dived the second time, so did Cam, watching him in the glow of the pool lights. Once again, Cort screamed, but this time he could see understanding dawn on Cam’s face. They both surfacedagain.
“You were screaming down there?” Cam said breathlessly. “It looked like you were, but I could barely hearit.”
Cort nodded, wiping water from his eyes. “Water doesn’t conduct sound the same way as air, so the sound doesn’t travel above thesurface.”
“Oh my God. You’re a science nerd?” He sounded shocked and more than a little impressed. Cort rolled hiseyes.
“Sorry to disappoint you, badass, but that and baking soda volcanoes are about the extent of my scientific knowledge. This is typical kids’ stuff. There was a pond down the street, and my brother and I—” Cort paused and looked away for a second. “My brother and I would sneak down there sometimes to hang out with the other kids.Hewas a physicsgeek.”
“You have a brother,too?”
Cort nodded, easily treadingwater.
“Older oryounger?”
Cort hesitated. He never spoke about Damon - not to his partner, not to his coworkers, not to anyone - and it seemed especially wrong to speak of him here and now. But it also seemed wrong to lie, or to use one of his million strategies for deflection, so he answeredhonestly.
“Seven yearsolder.”
Cam nodded, gliding a few feet away. “And you guys were close? What about yourparents?”
Cort could tell Cam was thinking about his own parents and the dickwad of a brother he seemed pretty fond of, but Cam and Cort weren’t ever going to have any kumbaya moments where they both reminisced about their awesome childhoods. “My parents are not something Idiscuss.”
“Ah. Got it.” Cam didn’t seem disappointed or rejected or whatever, but somehow Cort felt like an asshole anyway. He just didn’t share this shit -hisshit-with anyone except Damon, because Damon had lived ittoo.
Cam watched him silently for half a second, then swam closer. His pale blue eyes glowed with spooky intensity in the pool lights, and it almost seemed as if he could read Cort’s thoughts. Then he smiled, and held out a hand. Cort reached out and grabbed it, and together they let the water claim them, sinking down to the bottom and screaming their heads off where nobody but the two of them couldhear.
A few minutes later, they were floating on their backs, close but not touching, staring up at the stars - or the place where starswouldhave been on a less cloudy night. Cort had no idea what time it was other thanlate, and he was exhausted. Learning about Damon, dealing with Porter and Sean, everything had propelled him here tonight. But after the whiskey and the screaming, after learning way more about Cam than was good for him to know, his anger had evaporated, and he had completely lost sight of the plan that had brought him here. His mind was floating the same way his bodydid.
His hand bumped Cam’s in the water, and without giving it a thought, he tugged until they were floating together, side-by-side. He shifted his head slightly and saw that Cam, too, looked more peaceful than he’d been all evening. Cam turned his head just a little and gave Cort a look both fond and affectionate - as if they’d known each other for a million years instead of only a single night, and Cam trusted him implicitly. A single thought swam into Cort’s brain and took upresidence.
I want to be worthy of thattrust.
He instinctively backed away from the thought as soon as it formed in hismind.
It was wrong and stupid. He was loyal to Damon first, which meant he couldn’t be loyal to Cam. This night had been a messed up, wonderful lie, but it would end the second Cam knew who he really was. He glanced back up at the sky, and felt the first few drops of cold rain hit his face. Their warm, drifting time wasover.
He brought his feet down to touch bottom and turned, sheets of water sluicing down his chest with a loud splash. “Cam, I think—” he began, with every intention of calling a halt to this madness before he risked more than he was willing tolose.
But Cam surprised him once again. He stood up too, light and shadow playing across his face and the sleek expanse of his chest, and lifted strong arms to wrap around Cort’sneck.
“It’s crazy. It’s stupid. This connection can’t be real,” he whispered, his voice mirroring Cort’s own thoughts. “But for tonight, can we please do things the easy way andnotthink?”
He pressed his lips to Cort’s collarbone, and the heat of his mouth made Cort shiver. Then he pulled back, his eyes finding Cort’s like he was waiting for approval or maybe…Jesus.Permission.
Cort wrapped his arms around Cam’s waist, locking them together in the waist-deep water. Cam’s breath caught, and lust pooled in Cort’s belly. He let his doubts and misgivings float off into the gently lapping water as he stared at Cam’s mouth, slowly lowered his head, and decided for one night perhaps they both deserved the easyway.
His lips pressed against Cam’s, and then Cam’s parted, his tongue tangling with Cort’s like maybe he thought Cort needed convincing. Cort sucked on his tongue firmly, making Cam moan, and then he was licking inside Cam’s mouth tasting the smoky spice of the Jameson, and something even sweeter and more potent which was Cam’s alone. Cam’s hands came up to grab at Cort’s hair, locking them together, but then just as suddenly, he yielded, his lips becoming pliant under Cort’s. The sensation was so heady that Cort broke away slightly, pulling his lips an inch away from Cam’s to stare down at him. Both were panting, Cort was painfully hard, and he wondered if the easy way just might killhim.
