by Thom Collins
“I don’t think the family can be hard up,” Elizabeth said. “His dad was in the forces too. The RAF or something.”
Arnie sipped his wine. The more he heard about Dominic, the more interested he became. There were so many fascinating things about him, so much of interest. His career, his writing. Why he’d chosen to settle in Nyemouth having had no obvious connection to the town.
You’re not interested, remember. Romance is not an option. There was no reason they couldn’t be friends. Dominic seemed like a cool guy and Arnie could do with a friend in town. Things weren’t the same between him and Gabriel as they’d been when they were young. They got on well enough, always made time to chat and catch up, but there was a distance between them. There had been ever since they’d gone their separate ways as teenagers, and Arnie couldn’t see them being close again. He’d love it if they could. He was willing, but after Gabriel’s reaction to his earlier embrace, he doubted the feeling was mutual.
So why not reach out to Dominic? In a friendly, platonic way. They were close to the same age and bound to have a lot in common. Why shouldn’t they be buddies?
Because you want to fuck his brains out!
When Dominic looked as hot as he did, what were the chances of Arnie maintaining a physical and emotional distance? Zero.
It would be impossible not to fancy him. Unless he turned out to be the biggest arsehole in town—and judging by how rapturously his parents spoke about him, that was unlikely—Arnie would be fated to fall in love with him.
Would that really be such a bad thing? Couldn’t I use some excitement in my life? Yes. No. Maybe.
“At least Dominic isn’t all by himself,” Elizabeth said.
Arnie froze, the wineglass halfway to his lips. “What do you mean?”
“Gabriel,” she said, nodding across the restaurant to his old schoolmate. “He and Dominic have been seeing each other. They’ve been trying to keep it hush hush, but a few people have seen them together. They make a beautiful couple, don’t you think?”
Chapter Six
Dominic Melton drove into the hard body beneath him. The bed squeaked as he increased his pace, desperate for release. It had been a long time coming—too long. He’d come close twice already, but something kept him from a climax. Gritting his teeth, he shoved his arms under Gabriel’s chest. He gripped him tight and pounded harder. Gabriel’s skin glistened with sweat. Dominic had to hold him tighter to stop from slipping off. He pressed his face against the back of Gabriel’s head, pushing him into the pillow, inhaling the scent of his hair.
It was no good.
Gabriel was no good.
He wasn’t the man he wanted.
Dominic closed his eyes, forcing all thoughts of Gabriel from his mind, focusing on one thing—Arnie Walker. It was Arnie beneath him now. Facedown, hot, slippery and willing. Dominic let out a desperate cry with each inward thrust.
Driving into Arnie. Giving it to his arse. Getting close. Closer. Yes. Yes. With a final cry that sounded close to rage, he was there.
After all the effort, the orgasm was frustratingly weak.
“Are you okay?” he asked, breathless, knowing that the man beneath him was Gabriel and not Arnie Walker. He held the base of his cock, keeping the condom in place, and withdrew.
Gabriel rolled onto his back, presenting his hard dick. Dominic took it in an obliging grip and jerked until Gabriel squirted a copious load across his taut abs.
“Oh fuck,” he sighed, putting a hand on Dominic’s wrist to halt the action. “No more.”
Gabriel wanted to cuddle afterward. He always did.
“I need to get rid of this,” Dominic said, easing off the condom and wrapping it in a wad of tissues. He handed the box to Gabriel before striding naked to the bathroom. He disposed of the rubber and wiped the sweat from his face with a towel, avoiding his reflection in the mirror.
Why did you do that? This isn’t worth it.
He’d been trying to cut back on these sessions with Gabriel. It had started well enough. A casual agreement between two single men. Gabriel was attractive and the sex had been fun. That was all Dominic was interested in—a no-strings-attached fuck buddy. They used to get together every couple of weeks and that was that.
When Gabriel had suggested they meet up more often, it had seemed harmless enough. Why not? The sex was good, after all. As long as it didn’t interfere with his writing or lifeboat commitments, he saw no harm in it.
It had taken some time to realize Gabriel wanted more. The situation had been so easy, so convenient, that he’d thought nothing of it when Gabriel’s booty calls occurred two or three times a week. It wasn’t until he’d started texting about non-sex-related things and calling round with food and drink that it had become obvious Gabriel viewed their hook-ups more seriously than he did.
Dominic had made his intentions very clear—he wasn’t in the market for a relationship. Gabriel had insisted he felt the same, that Dominic had read things wrong. He didn’t want a boyfriend either, just a good fuck now and then. However, Dominic had seen a lot less of him lately. He hadn’t kept count, but it must have been a good month since their last hook-up. Tonight wouldn’t have happened if Gabriel hadn’t texted him after a couple of scotches. In a moment of weakness, he’d said yes.
The minute they were naked, Dominic had known he’d made a mistake. Gabriel had been all over him, needy and impatient. Dominic didn’t want him. He’d known in an instant the fire had gone out, but he’d gone through with it just the same.
When he returned to the bedroom, Gabriel lay naked on top of the covers and showed no inclination to move. Most men would be grateful. With his toned figure and his hairy chest and legs, Gabriel was a knock-out—physically perfect. He was smart too, with a great knowledge of the local area and history. Friendly and successful, perfect boyfriend material.
For someone else.
Dominic liked him all right, but there was nothing deeper between them. He saw Gabriel as a friend. Take away the sex and they got on as well as he did with any of his buddies in the lifeboat crew. Only Gabriel seemed to want more.
It had gone midnight. Dominic wanted to take Brandy for a quick walk then get back to bed, alone. He retrieved his underpants from the floor and pulled them on, hoping Gabriel would take the hint.
“Arnie Walker came into the restaurant tonight,” Gabriel said, gazing at the ceiling, seemingly content where he was. “I haven’t seen him in a while.”
Dominic put on his jeans. “Yeah? He dropped by the station this afternoon. He seems like a nice guy.”
“That’s his thing, isn’t it? The all-round nice guy. He’s made a career out of that act.”
Dominic ignored the catty tone of Gabriel’s voice. “How well do you know him?”
“We were at school together. We’re the same age.”
“So, what’s wrong? Didn’t the two of you get along?”
“No. We were friends. Good friends, as it happened. I just think, oh, I don’t know, that he got too big in the head for this place. He waltzes home once or twice a year and the town is expected to roll out the red carpet, like he’s visiting royalty, or something.”
Dominic frowned. “That’s not the impression I got. In fact, he seemed very down to earth. Not at all stuck up.”
Gabriel huffed. “He’s not as grand as he used to be, that’s true. But his career isn’t as big as it once was. The Hollywood movies and all that are a thing of the past. He’s no longer the big-I-am and has to slum it in TV and crappy British films.”
“Now you’re just being bitchy,” Dominic said, finding his socks and sitting on the edge of the bed to put them on. “I’ve not found anyone who has a bad thing to say about him. Until now.”
“You wouldn’t. The whole town worships him. Like the sun shines out of his arse. He’s their golden boy.”
Dominic smiled and shook his head. He recognized Gabriel’s words for what they were—jealousy. Unfounded at that. Gabriel had done well. H
is business was a massive success. In a town like Nyemouth, that was a big thing. He shouldn’t compare it to the career of a famous actor. Gabriel didn’t need to measure his accomplishments against Arnie. They had both achieved great things in different areas.
“What was he like at school?” he asked.
“All right, I suppose. We were friends and used to play together. His mother owned a guest house and my parents had the restaurant, so we had a lot in common. I think we just drifted apart when he got into the drama and all that. It wasn’t for me.”
“And you were both gay? That must have been a major bond. Most teenagers have to go through that alone.”
Gabriel rolled onto his side, rising onto an elbow to look at him. “I didn’t know he was gay. Not really. I suspected, but we never discussed it. When he went off and got married, I assumed I’d been mistaken or that it was wishful thinking on my part.”
“Doesn’t it strike you as odd? That you were both gay and didn’t know it?”
“We were teenagers. We didn’t have those kinds of conversations. It was kind of shy and awkward. We used to talk about girls and pretend to fancy them.”
“But you really fancied Arnie?”
“Absolutely I did. He was hot, even then. I think I was around sixteen or seventeen before I started to fill out and look pretty decent, but Arnie was always huge and looked like a man at fourteen. No one dared to pick on him, that’s for sure. I used to look at his body when we were on the beach. At first, I think I convinced myself that I was curious about him, about how much more mature and muscular he was than me. It didn’t take long to realize I wasn’t curious about his body. I wanted it.”
“Why didn’t you do something about it? Make a move on him?”
“I wouldn’t have dared. I doubt he would either. We weren’t open to things like that. You read about that kind of stuff in books, best friends fooling around together. I doubt it happens much in reality.”
“So, he was your best friend?”
Gabriel looked thoughtful and took his time before answering. “I suppose he was. Yes, the best friend I ever had. Even though we didn’t do more than hang out. I spent more time with Arnie than anyone else.”
“So, what’s your beef with him? You talk like you hate him.”
He shrugged. “I don’t dislike him. I could never say that. I guess I just resent him a little. For leaving Nyemouth.”
“I thought you liked it here.”
“I do,” he said. “I love it. I’ve known nothing else. Even when I went to uni, it was with the expectation that I would come home and run the family business. Arnie never had that. No one expected him to return and take over the B&B. He made his own choices. And now he has the best of both worlds. He has his life and career in London and returns to Nyemouth once or twice a year for a hero’s welcome.”
Dominic struggled to believe him. It was sourness talking. He’d seen nothing in the last few days to suggest local people treated him as anything special. No one had made a big deal last night or this afternoon. Dominic had always been a good detector of bullshit and Gabriel’s pettiness sounded like exactly that.
“It’s getting late,” he said, buttoning his shirt. “I need to walk Brandy before bed.”
Though he looked surprised, Gabriel took the hint. They had only spent the night together a couple of times. Agreeing to this impromptu booty call had been a mistake and letting Gabriel stay would give him the wrong impression.
As he watched Gabriel search for his clothes, Dominic knew this would be their last liaison.
* * * *
Brandy took her time, sniffing the bushes along the cliff path. Dominic didn’t mind. He was in no hurry. It was a beautiful night, far different from twenty-four hours earlier. The sky was clear and littered with stars, while the sea made a gentle hushing sound as it washed over the shore. He gazed out into the inky blackness and filled his lungs with the refreshing salty air.
It was moments like this that made him appreciate his life right now. Calm and peaceful. He’d seen plenty of action in his time, so much danger and destruction, and had reached a stage where he no longer needed that.
This was everything. The sea, the nights, the coastal town where he had made his home. So he might have no one to share it with—he didn’t care about that. He had friends, his dog, his house, the lifeboat. Maybe romance would come his way in time. Maybe it wouldn’t. He’d lived without it all his life. He couldn’t miss what he’d never had.
Brandy trotted over to announce that she was done. He used the flashlight on his phone to clean up after her and they headed back along the path toward his house.
There was a lamp on in Jacob’s living room. His friend did not sleep much these days. Dominic could call in and the old man would be glad to see him, but he decided against it. It was already late. If he went inside, he knew they would end up drinking more than was good for them.
Maybe another night.
In bed, he found it hard to sleep. The sheets smelled of Gabriel. He would change them in the morning. Gabriel was a nice guy—he just wasn’t the guy for Dominic.
He reached for his tablet at the side of the bed and opened Netflix. He entered Arnie’s name into the search function. There were three results—a five-year-old action film, a period drama and a TV series in which he appeared to play a doctor being stalked by a patient. The action piece sounded like the easiest watch.
Dominic settled down with the tablet on his chest. He drifted off to sleep watching Arnie Walker and dreamed about him a lot that night.
Chapter Seven
On Friday morning, Arnie sat in the shade of the veranda while AJ played with his cousins Conner and Indina and their black Lab, Benji, at the bottom of the garden. He’d volunteered for babysitting duties most of this week and had enjoyed it tremendously. The kids provided a necessary distraction. Since Monday evening, the press had been on his case. The attack on Sandy Costello was big news and reporters had inundated the town, looking for a story.
Sandy had sustained horrific injuries in the fall, and when Arnie had checked with the hospital last night, she remained in an induced coma. There were fractures to her head, neck, back, arms, pelvis and legs. The official stance from her doctors was that she was in a stable condition. Arnie knew that was a massive understatement. If she pulled through this, the damage to her body would be life-changing.
And at the moment that was still a huge if.
They had made no arrests. The police were keeping their investigation quiet, but Arnie had heard from the best source in town—his mother—that they were getting nowhere. They had interviewed Sandy’s friends, family, colleagues and ex-boyfriends, and so far, there were no suspects. She was a hard-working, well-liked regular woman with no obvious enemies. It looked increasingly likely that the attack had been a random incident.
It could have happened to anyone. Arnie got chills every time he thought about that fact. How easily it could have been AJ.
He had kept his son close to him all week.
The photographers on their doorstep had forced them to stay home a lot. Fortunately, there was plenty of privacy at the back of the house. The courtyard and garden could not be seen from the road. Arnie had gone on lockdown to look after the kids.
By the end of the week, interest in him and the story appeared to have waned. With no arrest, no new developments or, God forbid, no further attacks, the press moved on. When he’d looked out that morning, the road had been clear. If no one turned up by the time they’d had lunch, he intended to take the kids out for the afternoon.
Although the confinement had been enforced, Arnie had enjoyed these quiet few days at home. It was a rare treat to sit still this long. The kids amused themselves playing in the garden, or with video games indoors. All he had to do was lie back and keep an eye on them. He loved it.
AJ, Conner and Indina threw a Frisbee around the garden. The dog ran after them to begin with but had grown tired of their endless energy and sought
shelter in the shade of the cherry tree. With a smile, Arnie returned his attention to a well-read paperback.
Hard to Kill by Jack Cole, aka Dominic Melton. The book was a major page turner.
He’d begun reading on Wednesday night before bed and had less than a quarter remaining. He’d always avoided this kind of espionage thriller in the past, worried they would be too complicated and technical for him to follow. Previously he’d appeared in whole films where he didn’t understand the convoluted machinations of the plot. He’d turn up and say the lines in the hope it would make sense to someone eventually. But he couldn’t have been more wrong about Dominic’s novel. The writing style was crisp and clean. The story took some labyrinthine turns and it was riddled with deceit and double-crosses, yet Arnie never got lost.
The action scenes were exciting. He wondered, as he read, how much of it was based on Dominic’s own experiences in the Marines and Special Boat Service. Maybe not directly—the book was fiction, after all—but Dominic wrote with the confident voice of experience. He had a talent for grabbing the reader and pulling them along for the ride.
It was a pity there was no author photo on the cover, for no other reason than Arnie wanted to look at him. Dominic used a pen name to protect his anonymity, therefore it was obvious he wouldn’t want his face on the jacket. Still, Arnie would have liked a tiny piece of him.
Dominic Melton was not on social media. Arnie had checked. No Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Jack Cole had a website and social accounts. All pretty anonymous, book-related stuff. One look and Arnie knew the publicity department of his publisher managed the account. There were flurries of posts around the time of each new release then nothing more for months afterward.
It fit with the impression of the man he had met. Strong, dark, independent. He wouldn’t seek validation through followers or likes. His life was full. He had huge success with his work, the excitement of serving in the lifeboat and a hot man in Gabriel.
