THE WEEK ROLLED on, and so did the competition. I was neck and neck with Solo on the leaderboard, both of us taking out our opponents with relative ease. Normally I’d feel the pressure of having someone hot on my heels, trying to take the trophy out of my unwilling hands, but right now? To my utter surprise, I found myself…unbothered. Whether that was because the challenger was Solo or whether winning and proving myself to my father suddenly didn’t seem so important, I didn’t know. Would I like to see my name at the top of the winner’s plaque? Fuck yeah. But the all-consuming desire to win at any cost no longer haunted my every waking hour.
“Time to flip.” Solo rolled onto his back on the beach towel beside mine, and as all that tanned, naked skin came into view, I had to bite down on my lip and remember we were on a public beach. I couldn’t just reach over and grab what I wanted, but I sure as hell could look.
“You want to help me out with this?” Solo dangled a bottle of tanning oil from his fingers. Uncapping the bottle, I poured a liberal amount into my palm and then leaned over and began to rub it over his built chest. As my fingers molded to the muscles, Solo let out a soft groan that made my dick twitch.
“You keep up with those noises and I can’t guarantee you’re gonna get much of a tan.”
“Oh yeah?” Solo turned his head in my direction, and even with his Aviators on, I knew those dark eyes were traveling over my naked chest, because the heat they left in their wake was hotter than the rays beating down on my face.
“Yeah. But I have a feeling I’ll end up with a hell of a burn on my backside.”
Solo licked his lower lip, and I leaned down and followed the path with my tongue. It was hard to believe this was, in actuality, our first date. Our first public date, anyway. The one where we didn’t have to worry about someone seeing us that shouldn’t, and the one where we didn’t have to worry about what others thought. This was the first time I could actually let my guard down and be who I was behind closed doors. However, as my cock went from interested to ready to go, I realized there were certain things that should be done without onlookers.
“Seriously,” I said as I raised my head and studied the sinfully attractive face looking up at me. “Stop teasing me. These shorts only hide so much.”
Solo grinned and then placed his hands behind his head, stretching that spectacular body out for me to see, and suddenly I wasn’t sure that was the smarter option.
“Okay, I’ll behave—”
I scoffed, not believing that for a second.
“Fornow.”
My lips twitched as I went back to oiling him up.
“But don’t think for a second that this date is going to end in any way other than your hands on me, just like they are right now.”
A feral sound I barely recognized rumbled out of me, that idea one I wasn’t about to let him forget…later. But there was no way I was going to continue that line of conversation right now, not with families and kids playing just a little ways up the beach.
“Change the subject, Solo. Or we’re about to get arrested for indecent exposure.”
“Really?” He reached up and slid his glasses down so he could look at me over the top of them. “It might just be worth it to see you in a pair of handcuffs.”
Jesus.“That’s hardly changing the subject.”
“I know, but come on, I’m only human. And with you stroking your slippery hands all over me and looking like you want to attack, did you really expect me to start talking to you about the weather?”
“Maybe not theweather.”
Solo chuckled and lay back down. “Fine. How many kids do you want?”
I choked on my water and had to sit up as a coughing frenzy took over. “What?”
“Look at all those cute little brats down there. You could have a whole soccer team.”
Staring at him in shock as he lay there grinning, I wiped my mouth and said, “Kids? Soccer?”
“Or baseball. Football. I mean, that’s a brutal sport, but look at the way they’re jumping around trying to kill each other.”
I looked to where a gaggle of dark-haired kids of varying ages under maybe ten splashed and played in the ocean, and my stomach flipped. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Panther?” Solo waited until I looked his way, and then he laughed. “You should see your face right now.”
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because if you think I want a soccer team full of little beasts then you’ve lost your mind. I’m totally fucking with you.”
Relief passed through me, and I scrubbed a hand over my face. “What the hell?”
