They got the cooler of food from the car and went back to the sand, though they didn’t go down to the water. They picked a spot away from other tourists, and Gabriel laid out two large beach towels. They ate sandwiches on sourdough bread, with thinly sliced grilled chicken, hearty spinach, juicy tomatoes, and aioli. They discreetly poured wine because Gabriel said he wasn’t sure if it was allowed here or not. Raising their plastic cups, they toasted to the summer and to each other.
“I’m glad I’ve met you,” Gabriel said.
“I’m glad I’ve met you, too.” Drew was just beginning to understand how glad he was.
Chapter 9
Gabriel
Gabriel had practically grown up with sandbetween his toes and had enjoyed many days at the beach throughout his life, but the day with Drew quickly became his new favorite. After their meal, they raced back down to the water like two kids, then sprawled in the sun to dry themselves and warm. They kicked a soccer ball around, tossed a frisbee, and spent an hour lying on their towels, basking in the warmth and pleasure of the day.
Drew had brought a book with him and read while shielding his eyes. He really was unlike everything Gabriel expected from a professional hockey player—or any athlete. Gabriel knew he worked out every day in the early mornings, and every now and then had calls with his manager or other staff members from Boston. Other than that, he seemed remarkably normal. He was very down-to-earth and seemed curious about the world and introspective.
Without meaning to, Gabriel had found himself mentally evaluating Drew as a potential partner. They hadn’t really discussed any romantic or sexual interest in each other yet, and Gabriel didn’t want to get ahead of himself, but it was hard not to.
He felt soseenwhen he was with Drew, or even when they were texting. When he was at camp, he wanted to tell Drew about his day. Now that they were together, he didn’t want to leave Drew and go back to his own world. Drew was polite to strangers, he could carry on a conversation with anyone, and he had a sort of gentle masculinity to him that Gabriel found very appealing.
Drew was also incredibly sexy.
Gabriel found it difficult to not stare at Drew’s body while they were at the Lake. The hockey player had an impressive physique, sculpted by years of professional athletic, and had tattoos on one shoulder. He probably knew he was hot. You couldn’t be that hot and not know it. But if he knew, he didn’t have an inflated ego about it, and he wasn’t constantly checking himself out, either.
As they lay on their towels, separated only by ten or so inches of sand, Gabriel imagined what it would be like to be in bed with Drew. He imagined Drew’s deep voice whispering commands and praise into his ears. He imagined Drew’s strong, callused hands on his body. He hadn’t seen Drew’s cock, but he had seen its impressive outline through his wet swim trunks. It was large, and Gabriel flushed as he imagined what it would be like to take that cock inside of him.
“Are you close?” Drew said, and Gabriel blushed furiously, wondering if Drew had someone read his mind and knew the filthy things Gabriel was thinking. Or—he glanced down at himself in horror—maybe there was physical evidence of his arousal.
Thankfully, his cock remained respectably soft.
“Close?” he asked.
Drew marked his spot in his book with his finger. “To being ready to go.”
“Oh,” Gabriel said. He pushed himself up onto his elbows. “Yes, I think so.”
They packed everything up and hiked back to the car. It was past midday, and the sand was very hot. Gabriel blasted the AC in the car; they waited to get in until it had cooled a bit, but they still sweated and fanned themselves when they got in.
Orion’s beaches extended inland along the harbor. A bridge went over the harbor. Gabriel took the bridge; they were now north of the Dunes and the edge of the State Park, and headed back to the coast. The road they followed was narrow, with trees and houses on one side and more cottages and the Lake on the other.
Gabriel stopped his Jeep at his parents’ little cottage with the cedar shingle walls and the dark roof. It faced out towards the beach and had simple landscaping in the yard.
“You can come in,” Gabriel said.
The cottage was cute and cozy on the inside, very beachy with framed photos on the wall of Gabriel and his family. Drew paused to look at them and smiled. The pictures had changed throughout the years. Even this year, though Don and Laurel weren’t living in the cottage, they had made sure to update the photos.
Gabriel went to find his tarot deck in his room.
“You look like your siblings!” Drew called from out in the hallway.
“We really do, don’t we?” Gabriel said, coming back with a Tarot deck in hand. He held it up. “Tarot cards!” he said. “Want to do the reading here?”
“Let’s do it.”
Gabriel led Drew to a cozy living room with white furniture. “You can sit wherever,” Gabriel said. “Don’t worry about getting furniture wet. I can guarantee you it’s seen worse. Do you want something to drink?”
He brought them both ice-cold beers and then joined Drew on the couch, close enough that he could feel the warmth of Drew’s body, though they weren’t touching.
“There are a bunch of different ways you can read Tarot,” Gabriel explained. “You can follow a traditional spread, or you can read them your own way. What matters most with Tarot, and with most things that are witchy, are your intentions. That’s one of the things I like about witchy shit. It can really be adapted to whoever is doing it.”
He showed Drew some of the cards, explaining the Major and Minor Arcana briefly. The Major Arcana were the named cards; the Minor (or “Lesser”) cards were the unnamed cards. Major Arcana included cards like the Fool, the Hanged Man, the Hierophant, and the High Priestess, while the Minor Arcana included cards like the Cups, the Wands, and the Pentacles.
