Then I pictured myself, and the flood of heat to my groin won the battle with the creeping need to feel self-conscious.
I’d never made myself come in front of anyone, but with Cole’s gaze on me, I’d been unable to contemplate doing anything else. I’d wanted him to see me as much as I’d wanted to see him, though I’d epically failed in drawing it out.
I took a deep breath and tried again, focussing on every instruction he’d whispered in my ear. Slow and hard, I jacked my dick, picturing him again, recalling the tension in his jaw as he’d fought his climax, his straining muscles and hooded eyes. He’d lasted far longer than me, so I had no shortage of material to draw on, but I still came in five seconds flat.
Sweating—again—I slumped back on my pillow. The urge to roll over and hide under the duvet was strong, but energy laced my veins too. Fuck it. If Joe didn’t want me at work, I’d hit the waves instead.
Of course, my grand plans still involved a cross-country hike, but that was my life. Nothing I wanted or needed ever seemed to be within reach.
I took Joe’s keys and left him a note. Then I drove off the farm without casting a creepy glance at Cole’s cottage because I was in full control of how often I thought about him.
Honest.
The beach was gusty, and the swell was good. I hit the water and dunked myself underneath, anchoring myself in the cold gloom. The sea was rough enough to draw my attention away from anything that wasn’t riding the waves and fighting the unpredictable currents the Cornish coasts were infamous for. I battled them until my arms and legs ran out of steam, then let the tide carry me to shore.
Exhausted, I flopped on the sand and stared up at the grey sky. The weatherman on the radio had promised sunshine later, but for now I was stuck with the kind of sky that would leave me shivering if I didn’t get back to the van soon.
But still. I lay in the sand for a while and let muscle fatigue swamp me, enjoying the endorphins that came with it. Maybe I was a salty Cornish boy after all. Or perhaps I was just lazy. It wouldn’t have been the first time I’d dozed off in the sand.
“Hey.”
I jumped, and my eyes flew open. Above me a lean figure with a baby on his hip was blocking the first sunshine to filter through the clouds, and it took me a startled moment to deduce that it was Cole. “Damn. Hey. What are you doing here?”
Cole crouched down, his gaze an odd mix of amusement and... something else. “Turns out I drive right past here on the way back from Ella’s mum’s, so I figured we’d take a walk. Are you okay down there? That sea is rough. We were worried you’d drowned yourself.”
“We?”
“Well. Okay.Iwas worried. Ella just wants to eat rocks.”
“They grow out of that.” I tickled Ella’s cheek with a fingertip that had turned an attractive shade of grey while I’d lay damp on the sand. “Does she like the water?”
“I haven’t dipped her yet. It’s freezing.”
“It’s not so bad.”
“Mate, your lips are blue.”
Whoops. “Yeah, I kinda forgot to get dry. How long have you been here?”
“Long enough to watch you walk on water.”
“Huh?”
Cole shook his head. “Never mind. Will you do me a favour, though?”
“What?”
“Go and get warm before I have a fucking heart attack.”
I couldn’t tell if he was joking, so I hauled myself up and made tracks to the van. He trailed after me but didn’t join me until I was out of my wet suit and back in dry clothes. By then he’d bought coffee from the beach hut that he was struggling to keep Ella from batting out of his hand.
Laughing, I rescued it from him. “She’s not going to let you drink that, eh?”
Cole snorted. “Probably not, but that’s just as well. I bought it for you.”
“For me?”
“Yeah. To warm you up.”
