“I asked if you were free for dinner.”
Was it stupid for his heart to jump at Win’s slow smile?
“Yeah, sure. I was going to see what I had left over in my fridge, but we could order takeout.”
“I have something else in mind. Get dressed, and I’ll meet you out front by my car.”
Giving him no chance to respond, Win shut his window, and Elliot sprinted upstairs, grabbed a pair of shorts, and pulled a T-shirt over his head. He retraced his steps and was downstairs and out the door in less than five minutes. By this time, his heart was full-on pounding.
Win was wearing a blue T-shirt and faded cut-offs that showed the shift of his strong thigh muscles, and Elliot knew he’d be having dreams about that for months.
“That was fast.” Amused, Win cupped his elbow and drew him close for a kiss. Elliot sighed and wrapped his arms around Win’s waist, letting his lips and tongue express what he couldn’t say out loud.
God, I want you so bad.
Win’s hum of appreciation grew deep, and Elliot was ready to say screw dinner, when Win broke the kiss and rested his forehead on Elliot’s. “I can’t think straight when you kiss me like that.”
Elliot chuckled. “Yeah? You’ll have to do better than that to get me to stop.” He reached for Win again.
“Wait.” Still breathing hard, he touched Elliot’s face, studying him and running his fingers along his jaw. Passion sparked in his eyes, but a hint of darkness remained, and Elliot wondered why, what had caused it, but another searing kiss from Win drove out the last vestiges of coherent thought from his mind, and all he could think about, all he could feel, was Win’s desire.
Win said, “I’d tell you, ‘Okay, let’s go upstairs and finish what we’ve started,’ but I have plans.” He gave Elliot another tantalizing, slow kiss. “We can save this for later.”
“Plans? What plans?” Elliot followed Win into the Jeep, but Win merely gave him that mysterious, sex-on-a-stick smile. “Tell me.”
“You’ll see.”
***
“I still don’t believe this,” Elliot kept repeating. “I’ve never even been to Long Beach. I can’t believe it’s so pretty here and I never knew.”
They’d had lobster rolls and beers at The Shack at One Pacific, then walked for a while on the boardwalk. Win had even brought the picnic blanket from their Prospect Park outing, and after making a quick stop at the car to retrieve it, along with another throw, they headed to the sand. Once they’d spread out the blanket, they left their sneakers and the throw on it, and hand in hand, strolled to the water’s edge to stand with the water lapping at their ankles and listen to the susurrus of the waves.
“This is a perfect ending to a not-so-perfect day. Thank you for bringing me here. I haven’t been to the beach in so long, I’d forgotten how much I missed it.” And he’d never been to the beach in the evening, with someone, to walk together along the shoreline. That was relationship bucket-list material, not something two friends did together. He couldn’t imagine being here with Wolf or Chess or Spencer.
Win slid an arm around his waist, and Elliot leaned into his shoulder, a sigh of pure satisfaction escaping from his lips.
“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. I hated having to leave you so early this morning, but the flip side is that I got home early enough to spend the evening together.”
“That’s a nice start to making up for abandoning me in my hour of need.”
Win squeezed his hip and laughed. “Your hour of need?”
“Hours, days…weeks. It doesn’t matter.” Elliot turned in the circle of Win’s arms to face him, bold enough to speak his mind. “I’m needy, greedy, and wanting more of you.”
Surprise lit Win’s eyes golden, and they glittered in the blaze of the setting sun. “Well, then, how about I try and make it up to you? Let’s go sit on the blanket and watch the end of the sunset. Come on.”
With their fingers laced together, they trekked through the sand to the blanket, and Elliot sat with a grunt and stretched out his legs. Win straddled him from behind, wrapping those strong arms around him. Though they were roughly the same height and size, something about Win made Elliot feel protected and safe.
Win’s lips rested against his hair. “Tell me about your day.” Elliot tensed. “Or not. What went wrong? Feel like talking?”
If he started, he might not be able to stop. And what would he say?My parents are mad because I don’t spend enough time with my dead sister? Yeah…no. That was not a conversation he wanted to have with a man who gave him full-on shivers with a simple smile. He might’ve trusted Win with his body, but that didn’t mean he was willing to trust him with his heart. Maybe he was learning.
“Nah. Just a work assignment. Lots of research and staring at the screen gave me a headache.”
“Oh, anything interesting? Food-related?” The rumble of Win’s laughter warmed him. “Don’t forget I’m ready, willing, and able to come along and be your taste tester.”
“I promise you, the next time I have a restaurant to go to, you’re my dinner date.”
