“Sounds like my dreams.”
They shared a smile.
They pulled into the circular drive, and the moment the car stopped, the front door opened, which meant Freddie had been on the lookout for them. Freddie and his wife, Dottie, were in charge of maintaining the houses while his family was away, and they were like second parents to André and his brother and sister. At almost seventy-five, Freddie remained as spry as ever, his smile bright as he waited on the front porch.
He and Chess received their hugs and walked inside the huge foyer while Freddie gave directions to the driver to drop off their bags around the rear entrance. While André had his own home on the property, he’d chosen to stay at the main house so as to interrupt as little as possible Freddie and Dottie’s daily routine. With only Chess and him in residence, it didn’t make sense to do it otherwise and have them trek out to his separate home on the compound.
André took Chess’s hand, and they entered the great room, drawn to the wall of windows overlooking the sparkling, turquoise water of the swimming pool and the ocean stretching out blue and endless behind it. “I never get tired of this view,” André said as he and Chess wandered over to the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Pots holding delicate white orchids from the greenhouse decorated the tabletops, along with the red roses his mother favored. Huge, whitewashed beams lay across the vaulted ceiling, giving the space a rustic feel, and André’s gaze lit on the stacked stone fireplace taking up the far wall. An image of him and Chess snuggled up before a roaring fire in the winter came to mind.
“Do you want to sit for a while, or go to our room?”
“Let’s unpack, and then we can get something to eat and hang out by the pool.” Chess met his eyes. “I can’t wait to do absolutely nothing with you.”
Freddie rejoined them, bringing each a glass of sparkling water. “Your bags are in the room across from the master suite, and whenever you’re ready, Dottie has lunch prepared. She assumes you’ll want to eat outside on the back deck. There’s gazpacho and lobster salad, followed by a mango-passionfruit sorbet. Chess, she said she already has the recipes printed for you.”
“You know me so well.”
“It’s wonderful to see you both. We were thrilled when we found out you were planning on spending some time here.” Freddie turned to Chess. “When André was younger, he and his friends spent every summer here.”
“Those days were long ago. I’m all about the present and moving forward.” Anxious to cut off Freddie from his reminiscing, André slipped his arm around Chess’s waist. “We’re going to change now, so I guess you can tell Dottie we’ll be ready in about fifteen minutes or so? Is that good?”
“Perfect.”
Freddie left them, and they made their way across the room and down the hallway.
He opened the door to their room to find their suitcases on the bed and the shutters wide open to allow the brilliant sunlight inside. Here on the dresser were stargazer lilies, and André was touched that Dottie had remembered his favorite flower.
“Happy we came?” he asked Chess, who had already kicked off his sneakers.
“I am. It was nice of Elliot to invite us, but when you suggested here, it made sense. It would be silly to leave this all empty and go somewhere else. I’d forgotten just how beautiful it is out here, even if the nightlife isn’t my thing.”
“You’re my thing.” Chess smiled at his words, and André sat next to him, drawing him to his chest. “We don’t have to go anywhere but the beach. As long as you’re with me, it’s where I want to be. And if we didn’t just tell Freddie we’d be ready in fifteen for lunch, I’d prove to you how much you mean to me.”
“We have a lot of time to make up for. Every month seemed like forever when I’d lie in bed at night and think of you.”
“Whatever it takes—days, weeks, or months. I promise I’m not going to let that happen again. You’re too important to me.” André kissed him, falling into the unique sweetness of Chess’s lips. Their softness played devil’s advocate to his hungry demand, his need growing more powerful with each sweep of their tongues and each gasping breath.
Chess pulled away first. “We can’t. We have to get to lunch. Plus, you’re still a little weak.”
Fuck lunch, he wanted to say. When they’d first met, nothing had mattered except the thrill of their naked bodies sliding against each other, hot skin on hot skin. They’d forget about food or anything in the outside world, everything fading away but the driving need to possess each other, body and soul.
And besides, he hated being doted on. “It was a stomach bug; that’s all. No need to make it sound worse.”
“I’m not. I just know that with all the traveling and different foods, you don’t want to take any chances.”
“Stop treating me like I need to be coddled. I’m fine,” he said a little more sharply than intended, and Chess ducked his head, but not before André spied the hurt on his face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bite your head off.”
“I’m looking out for you because I love you.”
Instantly contrite, he cupped Chess’s face in his hands and kissed him gently. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I need to get used to being home again and having you with me. I’m so used to living from meeting to meeting, I need to check myself and not rush things.” He’d forgotten how sensitive Chess could be, how he hated any kind of conflict.
Relief spread over Chess’s face. “Exactly. The purpose of coming here was to throw away the clocks and put aside the phones so we could concentrate on each other. As a matter of fact, I should practice what I’m preaching. My grant applications can wait a few more days, and my teaching assistants can fend for themselves for a while.” Chess reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, and powered it down. “There. No more phone and no more distraction.” He gazed at him expectantly.
It was the right thing to do, of course, but years of being the one everyone turned to had made him forget what it was like to take a breath. Cutting himself off from his brother and sister wasn’t a problem; all those two ever talked about was where they were going for dinner, what yacht they were partying on, and who they were sleeping with. It was his mother and the business he had to worry about, and given the intense negotiations and new ventures she’d planned for Webster Properties, it might be career suicide to go dark.
But he wanted to show Chess he was on the same page; plus, he did think it would be good to disconnect. Maybe he could turn off the phone for now, and only check on it once or twice a day. Making a show of it, he turned it off, slipped it into his pocket, and gave Chess a huge smile. “Happy?”
