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Bren’s eyes fluttered open now. He needed to see if he’d gone to the right place with that.

“You tryin’ to get me drunk so you can score? ’Cause you know all you gotta do is ask, like.”

He expected a splutter, but Arlo leaned in and brushed his lips along his jaw. When he spoke, it was barely above a whisper. “I know.”

Bren took a breath to stop himself from rolling on top of him right there. He must not have noticed because he pulled away, smiling in a way that made Bren wonder if he’d actually done that to him on purpose.

“I want you to have fun too. So I'll have a little less fun, then more fun once you start having some. Then we can both have more fun.” His eyes traveled around like he was following the trail of logic he’d left behind his words. “Fun,” he said, still drunk “F-u-un.” He giggled. “Okay?”

Bren laughed and wrapped an arm around him so he had something better to lay on than the makeshift pillow.

“Tell you what. You finish the rest of that Powerade and listen to this CD, then you can hold your man up while he does a couple of keg stands.”

Arlo made a huffing sound against his chest.

“Can I hold on to anything I want?”

“Not in front of your mates, Robolad.”

Arlo pushed up from his spot and looked around the deserted area.

“I don’t see any mates.”

Their tongues collided in their renewed kiss and Bren found it hard to keep from rolling on top of Arlo again.

“I love you so much,” Arlo whispered, not pulling away from the kiss to say it.

Bren’s reply turned into a grunt as he pulled Arlo closer, the heat of their bodies joining the balmy air. Bren still couldn’t believe this was the same country he’d left behind in January.

Arlo’s hands roamed over his body as the shifting grew deeper, but paused at the top of his trousers.

Bren opened his eyes to find him blinking at him, the familiar look fixed on his face, like he was running multiple scenarios in his head.

“Is it OK if we . . . ?” His eyes flitted away as his thumb fiddled with the brass button that was in the way of things.

“Better get it out of your system now, lad,” Bren said, running his fingers across the back of Arlo’s hand. “Unless you wanna give everyone a show during that keg stand.”

Arlo laughed and fell back against his chest, hands resuming the course his worry had paused.

Bren remembered Arlo’s words the first time they’d slept in the same bed and stopped his progress with a kiss.

“You’re here with me, yeah?”

Arlo nuzzled his forehead against Bren’s heart then kissed the same spot.

“I’m always here when I’m with you.”

Bren didn’t know if it was poetry or the effects of the alcohol, but when he met Arlo’s eyes, he saw the real him shining back.

“Alright, then,” he said, and leaned into Arlo’s touch. “Let’s be here together.”

56

“It’s like watching a lobster wrestling a bear and a stick bug,” Nat said.

A.J. sat up and peered across the sand and water to the floating dock where Bren, Suveer and Dustin had been messing around for the last half hour. She had a point.

“You try keeping Bren in sunscreen,” A.J. said. He’d long since given up on the pursuit.