“Pretty,” he finally says, and I press a kiss into his temple, tasting the salt there.
“Very.” His lip quirks because he knows I’m not talking about the beach.
I open the gate onto the lane, ushering him through in a gentlemanly gesture I can’t help. My reward is a sunny smile that makes him look impossibly young, as if we somehow turned back time on that beach.
He pauses on the lane, his face suddenly serious. My heart starts to hammer.
“I missed you,” he says throatily, a soft, beautiful expression on his face. “Every single day we were apart.”
“Shit.” I kiss him hard, cradling his head in my hands, feeling his soft lips open under mine. I pull back but keep him there in my hands, and the next words come out so naturally, like I’ve said them a thousand times. “Iloveyou.”
His eyes widen, and his mouth drops open. “Pardon?”
I lick my lips. “I love you.”
“Again.”
The words come fast and sure. “I love you.”
I gasp as he surges up and hugs me tight, kissing me wildly. When he pulls away, I chase his mouth drunkenly for a second.
“Reuben, I—” His words break off as his eyes widen. He’s staring at a spot somewhere behind me.
“What?” I say urgently. “Don’t stop there. What were you going to say?”
“Reuben, why is Grey walking down the path towards us?”
My heart sinks, and I spin around, cricking my neck painfully. I ignore the pain because I’m stunned to see the man walking down the path. Grey—my good friend and former hookup, and the man Xavier last saw naked in a hotel where our lives changed forever.
“What thefuck?” I breathe. “How is this my life?”
chapter 19
. . .
Xavier
I spin to face Reuben. “Did you arrange this?” I snap.
His stunned face eases some of my anger. “No, of fucking course I didn’t. I thought he was off the island.”
Something about that confession stings me. Like he knew Grey might be here, and he kept that knowledge a secret. And I have to wonder at both those things, and why Grey is here on this beach right now.
“No,” he says, reading my dismay. “Nothing like that. Don’t think that. I wanted time with you, and I wanted to share Iona with you. It’s special to me.”
Thoughts tumble through my head too fast for me to parse any of them. It’s such an abrupt shift from what was happening before—what was happening between us. Going from sudden blistering happiness to suspicion so quickly has me reeling.
“Xavi—”
Whatever he’s about to say gets cut off when Grey recognises him, and calls out, “Reuben!” He comes up beside us, his face splitting into a wide smile. “Logan said you were here.”
Bernard sidles close to me, pushing into my leg. I pet him and tug gently on his ear watching the two men in front of me.
Grey is dragging Reuben into a hug, and it’s such a familiar and easy gesture. They’ve probably hugged thousands of times. I have a sudden flash of walking into that hotel bedroom and seeing the two of them naked in each other’s arms. I swallow hard, feeling a wave of nausea, and take an involuntary step back.
The movement drags Grey’s attention away from Reuben. I was standing behind Reuben, so I don’t think he saw me properly before. But he has now. I watch as his eyes widen. “Xavier?” he says.
Reuben extricates himself from the hug and steps back. My heart warms a little when he instantly drags me into him, his arm over my shoulder. “Yes,” he says.
