Damien knew he should keep walking. Time was ticking. He had twenty minutes to get to the beach to catch the ferry, and every second he spent not making progress was one he’d have to make up later, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.
Here in Fiji, a world away from the rat race that was New York City, a group of men from different walks of life were stepping up to help him do what he needed to do, even though he was letting them down. They were worried about him.
Damien’s chest tightened. He’d never had friends like this before. “You guys…”
“The next ferry is leaving in twenty minutes, isn’t it? We’ve got to get moving.” Glit put his hand on the middle of Damien’s back and started to steer him toward the walkway leading to the wharf. Soon enough, the crumbling sand underfoot gave way to solid wood. Once it did, their speed improved. Twenty minutes would still be tight, but it was doable.
While they walked, Glit leaned in close. “If you need an undercover operative to finish your dirty work, I can tell you that Gwynn’s current bid to keep me uninvolved is a big two-fifty. I’ll glitter bomb the shit out of him for three hundred.”
Pressure built behind Damien’s eyes. He barked out a laugh to chase it away, only to have to fight off a sob. Emotion, raw and powerful, destroyed him from the inside out.
These strangers he’d met online because of a misunderstanding years ago were banding together now to make a difficult time in his life easier to handle. Over the last several years, they’d gone from casual acquaintances to true friends.
Distance meant nothing to them.
No matter where life brought them, their friendship would always stay the same.
On their way down the walkway, two figures appeared on the horizon—Matthew and Alex. If it weren’t for Glit pushing him along, Damien would have stopped. Meaning brimmed in Matthew’s eyes that neither of them could dare acknowledge. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed his sorrow, making it all the more poignant when he smiled at Damien in a timid, fleeting way that wordlessly conveyed goodbye.
Hollow, Damien returned the smile, but couldn’t mean it.
Not now.
Not when all he wanted to do was cut across the beach for Matthew, sweep him into his arms, and tell him everything would be okay.
What a mess.
What afuckingmess.
“Hey.” Glit leaned into Damien’s side, speaking in hushed tones. “I don’t know what’s going on, but all of us are here for you.”
“I know.” With a dazzling smile, Damien quashed down his emotions. Vulnerability wouldn’t best him. He wouldn’t allow it. “You can bet your ass the second I connect to the Wi-Fi on the plane I’m going to be in the chat giving you guys hell.”
Laughter relieved the worry on Glit’s face. “And we’ll be there to give it right back.”
Soon enough the other Single Dads and their significant others caught up, including xV and Mal, whose shirt was inside out. As the groups merged, the couples started to pair up. Alex, Gwynn’s husband, broke through the crowd and wiggled his way beneath Gwynn’s arm, grinning. He positioned Gwynn’s hand so that it cupped his ass and flashed him a cheeky grin.
TD and Asshole arrived together, walking hand in hand. There was a smile on TD’s face that Damien had never seen before—one so full of love and devotion that it seemed like it would never fade.
Simon, Harley’s lover, broke from the rest of the group and rushed to Harley’s side. Next to Harley, Simon looked snack-sized, and Harley’s sunshine smile looked all the more bright. Harley transferred the suitcase to his other arm so he could hold Simon’s hand.
Everett and Caleb, the men of Glit’s harem, came up behind Glit, smirking like they were up to no good. Everett whispered something to Glit, sliding his hand into his back pocket. Caleb snickered and kissed the side of Glit’s head. There was something going on, but what it was, Damien wasn’t able to tell.
And then there was Damien.
Surrounded, but alone.
A part of him—the same irrational, insatiable part that always insisted one more drink wouldn’t hurt, or that all he’d need were an extra fifteen minutes in bed before he got up for the day—wanted to lash out. After years of short-term relationships with boys who’d left void upon void in his heart, he’d found one who stuffed it whole only to have to leave him behind. It was puppy love—it had to be—but it was impossible to shake. The last time Damien had felt anything comparable had been before his heart had been chewed up and spit out by life—before he’d learned what it felt like to be hurt.
It was maddening, demoralizing, and aggravating, but it was his problem to deal with, and he’d be damned if he took it out on his friends.
“I’m sorry you’ve got to leave so soon, Knot,” xV said once he and Mal made it to Damien’s side. “We’re honored that you’d come out all this way for us. If you need anything, we’re here for you.”
“You guys are making a big deal out of nothing.” Damien waved his hand dismissively, but on the inside, he was reeling. What he wanted to do was throw his backup phone into the ocean to join the first, dig through his belongings until he found the third phone that Nadja had inevitably planted somewhere in his carry-on, and smash it with a hammer.
His place was here.
With his friends.
