“You seem awfully giddy this morning, ArtCromley.”
“I could say the same about you, WesBrenner.”
“Someone’s given me something to be giddy about.” The muscles in Wes’s face burned from smiling so much, but he didn’t care. It was a small price to pay for how happy he felt. “What are you doing thisafternoon?”
“A water-polomeet.”
Wes checked his phone. “In an hour,” hesaid.
“About as good at knowing my schedule as you are at knowing my breakfast preferences. Now the real question is: why did youask?”
“If you don’t have anything after, text me. Maybe I could swing by your place and we could chat a little before we go out and tend to thegarden.”
“Do you actually want to chat, or did you have something else in mind?” As Art said the words, Wes turned and gave him a look, cocked brow and wide-eyed. It seemed Art had picked up on hisintentions.
“I had something else in mind,” Wesconfessed.
“I thought you were planning on being agentleman.”
“I proved I was a gentleman last night. Haven’t I suffered enough? I’m no spring chicken. Of course, I hope you know if you want to wait, I am more than happyto—”
“I’m not interested in waiting,” Art spat out, as though he couldn’t speak the words fast enough. “I hardly gave my virtue that much thought back when I was a kid, so I certainly don’t have that regard for itnow.”
“I was fairly careless with my virtue as well, so I guess it’s unsurprising we’d be so eager to behave in such an undignifiedmanner.”
“The more undignified, the better,” Art said almost under his breath before they exchanged a knowing look, and Art continued with, “I might need a little time after my class,though.”
Excitement radiated through Wes’s body as a powerful desire steadily overtook him. It reminded him of being a teenager, of having those impulses that led him to sneaking into the restroom at school or into his bedroom at home to have a moment to release the maddeningtension.
“Will you be doing gentlemanly things?” Wes asked, and they enjoyed a laugh like so many they had shared since reconnecting, and he could tell there was a nervousness and an eagerness to its quality even in hisown.
As they were about to round the other side of the pond, Wes caught a stir in the corner of his eye and turned to see their mallard family, all in flight, coming from the opposite side of the pond. It was as though some otherworldly force had pushed them to make their grand entrance at just the right time…like the divine was offering Wes a blessing for what he and Art wouldshare.
Water splashed about the ducks as their bodies landed on the surface. The six mallard chicks, though far larger than when they’d first started seeing them, tailed behind their parents, and Wes felt relief in knowing the remaining chicks since last they’d seen them were still in theircompany.
The rest of the trip back to Heathrow Estates was quiet, but Wes knew it didn’t have anything to do with an absence of things to discuss as much as with the building anticipation for what was tocome.
For Wes, it had been quite some time since an experience like that, and from what Art had told him, it was the same for him. However, more than a means to an end, he was curious to explore the physical sensations he’d experienced with Art the night before, and wanted to show him exactly how beautiful he foundhim.
