19
Wes
“It’syourstuffed otter,”Hayden said, holding the little stuffed toy out to me as the sand crunched under our feet, the sun setting on the horizon as we looked for the bonfire Seth promised he was already setting up. “You won it.”
“Yeah,for you,” I insisted, gripping his hand a little tighter.
I couldn’t believe he was letting me hold his hand. He’d been letting me hold his handall day.
I felt like I’d won something a lot better and rarer than a cheap stuffed otter with a little firework in one hand.
“You know they sleep holding hands?” I asked, squeezing Hayden’s fingers, not inclined to let go of him before I absolutely had to.
I knew that time was coming—I’d have to let go eventually—but not tonight. Notyet.
“Otters, I mean,” I went on. “So they don’t lose each other.”
“I vaguely recall reading that once. It sounded sweet,” Hayden said. “Are you sure? I think he likes you.”
I laughed.
Hayden was a different man today than when I’d first met him. Ten years had fallen off, and he was my age again, fun and playful and notquiteready to retire, to Costa Rica or anywhere else. He was so alive that all I wanted to do was touch him so I could feel it.
“Then you should definitely keep him,” I said. “He can be my wingman.”
“I rememberyoupromising to bemywingman,” Hayden said, smiling wryly.
I wanted to kiss him again.
I wanted to kiss him all the goddamn time.
“I got you laid.” I shrugged, the bag of snacks and beer in my free hand clinking with the movement. “I’m clearly an excellent wingman.”
“I’m not sure that counts,” Hayden said, but he was cuddling the otter now, so I figured I’d won this argument.
This was the closest we’d come to actually fighting. Each of us trying to let the other keep a stuffed animal.
“I can definitely smell burning,” Hayden said after a moment, looking around the beach. People were already congregating in groups, beach towels and picnic rugs laid out, fires being started, shouts of laughter, children playing.
They probably wouldn’t all make it to midnight, but the way the carnival atmosphere had moved through the town over the course of the day, finishing up at the beach, that was a kind of magic.
Otter Bay was a kind of magic. Andre had been right—this was my Costa Rica. My paradise. I never wanted to be anywhere else.
“I think we’re looking for the smell of a wet towel on fire,” I said. “Like, considering Seth’s practical expertise in setting fires…”
“There are fireplaces in that house, he probably knows.”
“I will bet you everything you have that Mark sets them,” I said, confident I could win this.
“Yeah?” Hayden asked. “Do I get everything you have if Seth knows how to start a fire?”
“I don’t have much.” I shrugged.
“I dunno,” Hayden said. “Stunning good looks. Great body. Pitching arm good enough to win a stuffed otter at a fairground stall. I could go for having those.”
I laughed, swinging our joined hands together as we came to a stop, pausing to meet his eyes.
“Hottest mouth I’ve ever seen,greatass, next-level cooking skills,” I said. “Could go for those, too.”
