by May Archer
I raised an eyebrow. “You shipped them?”
“As in relationship?”
“Okay?”
“I mean, like, I think they could have been together. In love.”
“Oh. That’s…” Bizarre. Fantastical. Disturbing. “Interesting.”
She grinned. “It’s a thing. And yeah, probably not very likely given how society was back then, but wouldn’t it be cool if it was true? Two guys stranded on an island. They fall in love and decide to stay. They’re best friends for the whole rest of their lives—”
“With their wives and kids.”
She shrugged, not remotely troubled by this. “Neither of them has the courage to really say how he feels, but—”
“Alrighty!” Jessica’s mom shook her shoulders slightly. “We need to go, sweets. Your dad’s looking impatient.”
Jessica sighed and gave me a lopsided grin. “Anyway. Nice meeting you.”
Jessica’s mom smiled apologetically as Jessica departed. “She has a wild imagination. She reads a lot of romance novels.”
“Oh, I’m hard to shock,” I lied. “I’ve heard some pretty crazy theories over the years. You guys have a great day.”
I chuckled to myself as I grabbed the broom from the little supply closet next to the cockpit and started sweeping. I wished everyone on my tours was as genuinely excited as Jessica. She reminded me a little of Mason that way. But she probably had better taste in television shows.
I snorted. There was no way I was gonna share her shipping ideas with Mason, or the man’s Captain-and-the-Naughty-Quartermaster shtick was gonna get worse than ever.
I paused in my sweeping, feeling my blood thrum in anticipation.
On second thought, considering the text he sent me earlier… that might be a good thing.
“Would you look at that?” Big Rafe walked out of the cockpit, sporting a neon blue MAYOR tee.
“Look at what? I can’t see anything but your shirt.” I squinted and held up a hand to protect myself from the glare.
“Pretty eye-catching, isn’t it?” Rafe smoothed the cotton down his barrel chest fondly. “I think Gloria got a deal on them. She did the lettering herself.”
Huh. Maybe Mason was right about Rafe and Gloria after all.
Poor Gloria.
I collected the ropes from around the cleats attached to the pilings and prepared to cast off and head back to the key. “Ready to go?” I had shit to do, and some seriously exciting plans to get home for.
“In a minute.” Rafe stood by the cockpit door, hands on his hips, rocking on the balls of his feet, watching me.
“Problem?” I demanded.
“You enjoyed talking to those folks,” he accused.
I peered at him. “Uh, yeah. So?”
“So, you don’t hate working with people.”
“Hardly a secret. Who said I did?”
“What is it that you dislike so much about this job, then?”
I blinked. “Does it matter?”
“I’m asking, Fenn. Ergo, it must.”
Ergo. I took a deep breath and begged a Universe I didn’t believe in for patience. “I don’t know, Rafe. Nothing and everything, I guess.” I shrugged and stowed the broom in the cupboard by the cabin. “Ready now?” I demanded.
“Yeah.” Rafe heaved a sigh and rolled his eyes. “Ready.”
But as he walked back into the cockpit to take the wheel, I found myself thinking about his question honestly for once.
“It’s not the people,” I said, following him a few minutes later and slumping down in the seat beside his. “It’s never been the people I minded. I like working with customers.”
Rafe nodded. He kept his gaze on the water and held his tongue for once. The only sound was the hum of the motor and the call of the seagulls.
“It’s not the boat either,” I said at length. “I like the variety in my days. I never enjoyed working a desk.”
“I’m the same,” Rafe agreed, pursing his lips. “Couldn’t do a nine-to-five. Never bothered to try one. Breathing recycled air in some office? Pure misery. You were smart to get out of that corporate life while you still could.”
I laughed. In the five years since I’d left Texas, I’d gotten raked over the coals by my stepfather and prayed over by my mother for being fool enough to get involved with Thad Chambers. Even my dad had laughed and said I was a chip off the old block—he’d gotten into trouble for sticking his dick where it didn’t belong, too, except in that case he’d ended up with me. At no time had anyone, including myself, ever called me smart.
“It wasn’t actually a choice,” I reminded Rafe. “Mr. Chambers terminated my employment.” I rubbed a hand over my ribs, though they hadn’t twinged in years.
“There’s things you plan for, Fenn, and the things you do to roll with the punches you’ve been dealt. You’ve done a real good job of rolling.”
“Uh.” I frowned, completely unsure how to handle this. I couldn’t recall Rafe ever complimenting me before, and I wondered if I’d slipped and hit my head or something. If so, I was enjoying the hallucination. “Thanks?”
Rafe’s mouth quirked up in a smile, and he darted me a quick glance. “Trouble is, you’re not doing much of the planning.”
Ah, there we go. That was more like it.
“I plan for plenty, Rafe,” I said mildly. “I planned to get up this morning, I planned to do my work, I plan to meet up with Mason tonight.”
“Yeah? And what about tomorrow?” Rafe pressed. “What about the day after? What about this time next year? You still gonna be doing a job you don’t really love, working as a tour guide and mechanic—”
“Not a mechanic.”
“—and laying around the resort for the rest of your days?”
I bristled. “I work hard. I earn my keep as much as any of the guys.”
Rafe hmphed. “My boys know not to expect a free ride.”
And so do I, I wanted to say, but I bit my tongue.
“What’s the point of this conversation?” I demanded.
Rafe sighed. “You gotta think about your future. Where do you wanna be in ten years? You wanna go back to your rocks, that’s fine. Or maybe you wanna do something else instead. Forge a new path. But you’re not gonna be running this boat forever, Fenn. So what comes next for you? That’s the point.”
I folded my arms over my chest. “Who’s gonna be running it, then? You?”
He shook his head. “You don’t see it yet, but Whispering Key’s growing by leaps and bounds. I have plans in place that are going to set the Goodman family up for the future, and they’re already starting to take shape. The Whispering Key Extravaganza is only the beginning. Renovating the Five-Star? Tip of the iceberg. I’m talking investing in restaurants and renting out vacation homes. I’m talking creating an industry that gives us passive income! And when the island is back in fighting form? When the carousel is running again, and the inn is full, and there are restaurants all up and down the Pass?” He sucked in a breath and smiled, like he could picture it all in his mind. “I’m gonna repurpose the Mary Anna. Might sail her down to Key West for a bit. Might trick her out for all the grandchildren my boys will be giving me.” He shrugged. “All the things Mary and I always wanted to do. All the things I’m gonna do for both of us.”
I rolled my eyes to hide the sting of this. Must be nice for the Goodman family to have so much to look forward to.
“Fine.” I set my teeth. “You wanna get rid of me that bad? Let me know when I need to look for another job.”
“Prickly as a porcupine.” Rafe shook his head sadly. “I don’t get you, Fenn. You’re young and healthy. Don’t you want to make something of your life? How long are you gonna let what happened in Texas hold you back?”
I sucked in a breath, because that stung, too.
“Hold me back from what? Christ, Rafe. Until a few weeks ago, you were the mayor of a bankrupt island no one had ever heard of! Then you lied and you cheated to get money to fix th
ings up on the island. And it looks like it’s paying off for you, so great! Lucky you! But please do not act like you’re therefore qualified to deliver a sermon to me on how I’m not doing enough with my life, okay? You were no better off than I was two months ago. Probably worse.”
Rafe puffed out his chest. “You couldn’t miss my point any harder if you tried. And I have never been worse off than you, Fenn. Because I never believed for a second that what I had was all I deserved.”
“The fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“It means I know what I want, and I believe I can get it if I work hard enough. If I fight hard enough. I know you boys think I’m a selfish asshole. Not without reason,” Rafe admitted. “And I know Whispering Key thinks I’m twelve donuts shy of a dozen. That doesn’t bother me in the slightest. Because I can see the future I’m dreaming of, Fenn. A future for everyone I love, so close I can taste it. And I’m not gonna let anything hold me back from getting it for them, even if it means I need to pull a few strings and bruise a few egos to get it.”
I set my teeth. “You don’t care if you have to manipulate people, the way you manipulated Mason—”
Rafe snorted. “Mason’s gotten over it well enough and enjoyed his time here. A month from now, when he’s working at his next big job, he’ll look back on us fondly.”
“Please. He’s not—” I scowled. “What do you mean, a month from now?”
“I mean, when he finally accepts one of the job offers he’s gotten and leaves!” Rafe searched my face for something, then said sadly, “Oh, I see. You didn’t know. Well! Mason must’ve been offered half a dozen jobs by now. Minnesota, North Carolina, Arizona… He’s turned down a bunch already, probably for the wrong reasons. Not sure which one he’s gonna pick, but it’s only a matter of time, really. I’m sure he’ll do well wherever he ends up.” He sighed. “I’d love for him to stay, but it’s not fair to tie him someplace unless we can give him what he wants. What he deserves.” He turned his shrewd gaze in my direction. “Can you give him what he deserves, Fenn?”
I breathed through my nose, nostrils flaring, while the bottom fell out of my stomach and my thoughts tangled together like fishing line.
You think you know what he deserves?
You think you know how I feel about him?
And winding through it all with a sound like the clanging of a cell door… a month from now.
“I need some air,” I said, pushing up from the chair and striding through the door. “I’m suddenly feeling seasick.”
When Rafe docked the Mary Anna, I didn’t stick around to help him clean up. I blew off Beale and our plans to go shopping, too. Instead, I jumped in the Charger and headed directly to the motel, consumed by the need to see Mason immediately. Honestly, it was a little pathetic, but there wasn’t a specific thought in my head beyond that.
I needed Mason Bloom. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200.
I ran up the concrete steps on the outside of the building two at a time. There’d been painters there that afternoon, freshening up the stucco and tidying the trim, and I could smell chlorine in the air from the pool and hot tub Rafe had paid to have fixed. I’d been trying to coax Mason into skinny-dipping in that hot tub, and now… I couldn’t find it in me to give a shit.
I strode down the balcony and banged his door with the side of my fist. “Mase?”
Nothing.
I banged louder. “Mason!”
Fuck.
He was always home by five. Always.
I ran a hand through my hair, too frantic to think straight. I pulled up on the knob and popped the door open with my hip…
It was a weird sort of déjà vu, stepping into Mason’s room and hearing the shower running, just like the first day we’d met. Except this time, instead of screaming, Mason was singing some song I’d never heard of. And instead of me trying real hard not to picture Mason naked in the shower, now I knew exactly what he looked like, a sight that would be seared in my memory banks until I died.
I slipped off my sandals, taking a second to put them in their spot, and locked the door behind me. The sun still shone brightly outside, but when I closed the curtains, the room was shadowy and cool. I threw my wallet and keys on the little table by the window, then draped my shirt and shorts on top of them. When I was down to only my boxers, I turned toward the bathroom door…
And that was when I noticed the world’s tiniest bottle of lube and at least four packages of condoms sitting on the nightstand.
Fuck.
I closed my eyes while I exhaled a shaky breath. In my haste, I’d forgotten the supplies, but Mason hadn’t. There were definite upsides to dating a planner.
The shower turned off while I was still standing there, and the next thing I knew, Mason was walking out with a towel around his waist.
“Holy… Fenn!” He clasped a hand to his naked chest, but the sides of his mouth turned up in a smile and he sounded more excited than outraged. “What are you—?”
I crossed the distance between us in two long strides. One more step had him back against the bathroom doorjamb with my chest pressed against his. His hands settled on my back above the line of my underwear.
“Wow.” His smile lit up all the dark and anxious parts of me like a sunbeam. “Somebody’s excited about—”
I kissed him—a hard, claiming kiss, cradling the back of his head with both hands as my tongue invaded his mouth. Hell, yes.
His hands were cool from the shower as they trailed up my naked back, and I shivered against him, breaking our kiss so I could suck at his neck, lick at his earlobe, paint his Adam’s apple with my tongue.
“Shit, Fenn. Shit.” Mason’s green eyes glowed warm in the dimness of the room, and I vaguely remembered thinking he was cold when we’d first met. I was such a fucking idiot. I’d wasted so much time. Days and days when he could have been mine, but hadn’t been. My hands tightened on the back of his neck.
“Are you okay?” Mason asked, cupping my cheek with one hand. “Fenn… baby… are you—”
He said the word tentatively, gauging my reaction, and I pressed my forehead to his. Oh, yeah, I liked it. I reached one hand up to grasp his wrist, and the fucking thing shook.
Get it together, Reardon.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m good. I’m fine. I’m just—”
“Fenn, we don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” Mason said, his face anxious but his words calm and slow, like I was one of Beale’s feral cats and he didn’t wanna scare me off. I almost laughed out loud. Like that was what terrified me right now? “We haven’t talked a whole lot about this, but I really wanted—”
I cut him off with another swift kiss. “I want you, Mason Bloom. Any way you want. Okay?”
His anxious frown melted into something warmer. “Yeah.” He bit his bottom lip, clearly pleased. “Yeah, good.”
I pushed his damp hair back from his forehead. “So, tell me how you want this to go.”
“Oh, I. Um. I mean.” He turned bright red, so I had to lean in and press my lips to his cheek in an openmouthed kiss, just to taste that blush. “I’m pretty open-minded but I…”
“But you?”
“I’ve been thinking about this for a while.”
“Have you now?”
“And I thought, just for the sake of trying all the new experiences, that I might like to try…” He nodded at the bed and somehow managed to flush harder. “You know. That… thing.”
He was gonna kill me with this shit, he really was. And I was gonna love every second of it.
“Say the words, Mason. Ask for what you want.”
I trailed my lips down his throat and felt him swallow.
“I’d like to bottom.”
Well, fuck. I hadn’t realized how much I wanted that until he said it out loud. I was vers and I’d never minded bottoming in the past, but in that moment, with Mason, I wanted to top more than I ever had before. I wanted to be inside him. I wanted to stay there forever.
&
nbsp; I kissed him again, harder, and slid my hands to his shoulders, pulling his chest into mine.
I felt him hesitate, just the tiniest bit of resistance against the embrace before he gave in. I pulled back. “Mason?”
He shook his head and pulled against my hips. “No, don’t stop. It’s fine. Never mind. Come back.”
I would not be moved. “What? If we’re going to do this, you need to be a hundred percent honest with me about what’s going on in that brain, starting now.”
“I just—” He rolled his eyes. “It’s stupid. I stopped at Pickles’ and got snacks. And I have the beer from the Barrel House. And I thought maybe we could make it, like…” He waved a hand in the air.
“Words, Mason,” I prompted gently.
“A date. Or a date-like, date-type thing with, um… drinking, and talking, like last weekend.” He darted a look up at me, green eyes behind dark lashes. “But I like your idea better. Less talking, more kissing. The talking can wait.”
Fuck. This was Mason’s first time having anal sex—which, let’s face it, was really not a huge deal in the grand scheme of life or a thing to get precious about, considering I barely remembered my first time, and there’d sure as hell been no hearts and flowers—but also was a huge deal, because I’d gone and fallen for an overthinker, and all kinds of unimportant shit took on deep significance for him.
Plus, why shouldn’t Mason get the hearts and flowers? Or in this case, beers and conversation? He damn well deserved them, and it wasn’t a huge sacrifice on my part. It wasn’t any sacrifice at all.
“That’s too bad, because now I like your idea better,” I informed him. I slapped him lightly on his towel-covered ass and crossed the room to pull two beers from the minifridge.
“You’re annoying.” He scowled as he sat on the edge of the bed. “I reserve the right to change my mind when I feel like it.”
I crossed the room and nudged him over to sit in the middle of the bed and handed him a beer. “But why, when you have such good ideas the first time around?” I nodded at the many, many boxes of condoms on the nightstand. “Although, unless we’re having a water balloon fight later, your condom-to-lube ratio is off, baby.” I leaned back against the pillow, and an instant later, Mason leaned over to put his beer on the nightstand and curl against my side.
