“No. Just sitting up front to watch her walk down the aisle.”
Sully hums thoughtfully. “This is my first time ever being a groomsman. Well, best man I guess. I already have anxiety about tripping down the aisle or something.”
“You’re not going to trip down the aisle,” I rush to reassure him. But Sully just rolls his eyes with a smirk, a soft dusting of crimson filling the apple of his cheeks. “I swear, Sully. You won’t.”
“I’m so clumsy in real life. I’m always amazed that I don’t just trip over myself on the field on game day.”
“Do you trip in practice?”
Sully thinks about it for a moment before shaking his head. “Nope. I guess the football field cures my clumsiness.”
“Maybe so,” I agree.
We smile at each other just as Sully parks the car at the hot springs. The air is more humid here, probably from all the water, but it’s a short walk to the springs. A few people are already in the water, laughter ringing out through the air. Sully tugs me again by the sleeve of my shirt toward a hidden alcovewith trees, creating the perfect shade. He drags off his shirt and heads toward the springs without any modesty. I hesitate for a moment, not embarrassed about my body but calculating our vast differences.
Sully’s body is strong, built for taking other men down on the field for a living. Mine is soft with age, built for standing for long hours doing surgery. But when Sully climbs into the water like some sort of blond, built-like-a Mack-truck god, every self-conscious thought disappears from my brain when he turns around to aim that aw-shucks smile at me.
The water is the perfect temperature as I step in, slowly approaching Sully. His eyes take me in, full of want and fire, and my body heats just from that single look.
I dip down low enough to be covered up to my shoulders. “This was a fun idea.”
Sully steps a little closer, making ripples between us. His hand reaches out to curl his fingers around my wrist, then he gently yanks until we’re face to face in the warm water. I can’t say how long we stand there, breathing each other in. Seconds, minutes, and hours; time just freezes. His eyelashes are blond, perfectly framing his impossibly beautiful blue eyes. He has a scar between his eyebrows that piques my curiosity. With my free hand, I slowly brush my wet fingertips across the scar, leaving droplets in my wake.
“How’d you get this?” I ask quietly, voice barely a whisper.
“Foster dad threw a beer bottle at me,” Sully says lowly, as if embarrassed.
“No,” I whisper before brushing my lips over the scar. “No, Sully.”
Sully wraps his arms around me and tugs me tight against the hard line of his body. I go easily, not putting up an ounce of fight. Something about Sully bleeds all the fight from my body. Before I change my mind, I wrap my arms around his neck andkiss him right on the mouth. His hands come up to tangle in the hairs at the nape of my neck, tilting my head as he moans against my lips. Opening up for him, his tongue dips into my mouth to taste me, and I’m surprised to realize the loud keen that reaches my ears came from me.
His large palm tenderly caresses the curve of my ass in a way that makes me feel so very wanted, so very adored. Everything about the moment makes me drowsy: the soft slide of lips, the sun beating down on us, the warm water. I’m alive. When I finally pull away from Sully, his eyes are blown wide, and his lips kiss-bitten red. Dancing my fingers over his cheekbones, I can’t help but lean forward to place one last, closed-mouth kiss on his gorgeous lips.
“Tate,” Sully says softly.
“A little fling,” I remind him.
Sully nods in agreement, before releasing a soft breath, an almost sigh. We stand dipped in the water for a while, just taking each other in, until finally pulling away from the dizzying orbit of each other's bodies. We swim for a bit, trading smiles and laughs, and splashing one another under the warm glow of the sun. Finally, I tug Sully back to me to gently massage his shoulder until he’s letting out indecent-sounding moans. Not meant for public, those are just for me. Once our fingers are pruned, we climb out of the water to lie down on the towels Sully so thoughtfully packed for us. Lying side by side on the damp towels, our arms brush as we stare up at the cloudy sky.
Sully lifts an arm to point at an oddly shaped cloud. “That looks like a zombie bunny.”
I snort. “Why zombie? Also, I see angry koala.”
Sully drops his arm back to the ground, reaching over to delicately tangle his fingers with mine. “Definitely a zombie bunny.”
I use my other arm to point out another cloud. “That’s a ninja turtle.”
“No way! Mutant bigfoot.”
“What the fuck?” I ask with a stunned chuckle. Turning my head, I find Sully’s gaze already on me, with a soft, heartsick-looking smile.Just a fling, I remind myself, when the sight of his smile knocks too many emotions loose inside me.
“I like your laugh,” Sully says as if the admission costs him a great deal.
“I like your smile.”
“Yeah? I keep thinking of getting my gap fixed.”
“No way,” I say roughly. I love the gap between his two front teeth. It adds to his charm. “Never ever get rid of that.”
