But none of that mattered. Micah’s feet had already decided for him. They drew him forward despite the nervous uncertainty that moved through him in dizzying waves of self-consciousness mixed with a thrumming, breathless anticipation. Waves strong enough to rival anything out in the bay.
The man shrugged out of the top half of his wetsuit as he walked toward Micah, leaving it hanging around his waist.
Micah’s fingers immediately twitched, wanting to touch all the interesting planes and valleys of the warm, wet skin the man had just bared. He wanted to run his hands over the man’s face as he laughed, to use his fingers so he could actually see him better. To find out if those twin shadows were actually dimples, the way he thought they might be. To touch the guy’s hair… his hands… his everything.
Micah wanted to know him in a way that his eyes just weren’t up to handling.
Wetsuit Man looked up—straight at him—and Micah’s stomach did a weird flopping, twisting thing that almost made him feel sick, but was also the most exciting thing he’d ever felt. And this time it wasn’t an optical illusion. The guy was definitely for sure actually looking right at him.
Micah smiled, unable to help himself.
And then he tripped.
He went down hard on his knees and palms, twisting at the last minute to protect his camera from hitting the ground. Thank God it was strapped around his neck. But then that small moment of gratitude passed, and Micah found himself blinking up at the endless-looking blue sky, a little dazed from the way his head had connected with the ground.
And more horribly and completely embarrassed than he had ever been in his entire twenty-two years of life.
3
Zach
Zach didn’t remember dropping his gear bag, but by the time he’d fought through the crowd and found the little blond whose ridiculously sweet, crazy-bright smile had hit him like a Mack truck, he was glad to have his hands free. The blond was lying on the ground when Zach reached him, not moving, and he lifted the petite man’s head, cradling it in one hand while he started checking him for injury with the other.
“Are you okay?” Zach asked, making sure to keep his touch professional as he let his eyes roam over the other man’s slight frame. Despite Zach’s best intentions, though, the killer cheekbones, smooth, sun-kissed skin and pouty lower lip that practically begged to be sucked on almost made him forget he was looking for signs of concussion, and not… anything else.
“Please tell me you didn’t see that,” the blond said, his eyes tightly shut. He cracked his eyes open for a split second as color flooded his cheeks—the brightest shade of red Zach had ever seen, appearing so quickly that it almost looked like someone had flipped a switch—but then he immediately squeezed them closed again, muttering a soft, “Oh my God. It is you.”
Zach’s eyebrows shot up. “Have we met?”
The blond opened his eyes again, blinking up at him. “Besides now, you mean?”
Zach laughed, a little bit charmed, and the man in his arms blushed even harder, which—honestly, for as red as he already was?—should have been impossible. His flustered embarrassment was kind of cute, and Zach grinned down at him, forgetting for a moment that he’d been responding as a medic.
“So this is the first time we’ve met?” Zach asked, knowing it had to be. He couldn’t imagine forgetting if they’d met before, but the way the guy was looking up at him almost made him feel like he should recognize him.
“Yes,” the blond said. Then he sighed, covering his still-flushed cheeks and making no effort whatsoever to move out of Zach’s arms. “I mean, no? Please tell me this doesn’t count, because I’m pretty sure falling down right in front of you wasn’t a very good first impression.”
Zach laughed. He hadn’t found any sign of injury, but he wasn’t in much of a hurry to let go, and the man didn’t seem to mind that Zach was still holding him. Which… was interesting. Although, it could also be a sign that something was wrong.
“Do you know your name?” Zach asked, and even though he wasn’t normally in the habit of lying to himself, he pretended that the question was because the guy had hit his head and was sounding a bit confused, and not because of how Zach had felt when their eyes had first met across the marina.
“Yes,” the blond answered, smiling up at him.
It lit him up in a way that kind of took Zach’s breath away, and when he nodded once in emphasis, as if he might be perfectly content to just leave it at that, Zach had to fight the urge not to laugh again. Not so much because it was funny, even though it kind of was, but more because he felt an odd kind of bubbling happiness inside him, even though he really couldn’t have said why.
Zach’s lips twitched as he waited out the silence, enjoying the view. Then, when it seemed like “yes” was really all he was going to get, he finally asked, “Were you thinking of telling me, or should I just guess?”
“Oh my God.” The man struggled to sit up, doing it too fast and cracking their foreheads together. “Ow. And no. I mean, you don’t have to guess, I’ll just tell you. Jeez, I’m so bad at this.”
“At what, remembering your own name?” Zach teased, keeping an arm around him… for support. “Maybe I can help with that.”
“You can?”
The words came out kind of breathless and hopeful, and when he looked up at Zach with sparkling eyes made all the brighter by the color that was slowly fading from his face, something shifted inside Zach’s chest, making the bubble of happiness he didn’t really have an explanation for expand even more.
“Sure,” Zach said, standing and helping the other man to his feet, too. He swayed a little, and Zach reached out to steady him. “If you tell me what it is, then I promise I’ll remind you the next time you forget. Sound good?”
“Yeah,” the blond said, smiling up at him for a second before he rolled his eyes and laughed at himself. “Oh, I mean, it’s Micah. Micah Rawlings.” He paused to nibble on his lip—that pouty one that Zach was doing his damnedest not to stare at—before blurting, “What’s yours?”
“Zach Hunter.” He realized he was still holding onto Micah’s arm, and cleared his throat, adding, “I’m a medic.”
Because that’s why he was still touching him.
Zach made himself let go. Not that Micah seemed to mind, but he did seem a little out of it, and if the flirting was unintentional, Zach definitely didn’t want to make him uncomfortable.
“Maybe we should take you to the emergency room?” he suggested, determined to rein in his interest until he could figure out if it was appropriate or not. “It looked like you hit your head.”
Micah’s eyes widened. “Um, no. Just… no. Definitely not. I’m fine.”
Zach raised his eyebrow, surprised at Micah’s adamant response.
Micah started blushing again. “It’s just that my mom works there? One of my sisters, too. They’re both doctors, and showing up there would be…” He rolled his eyes, then laughed, going from shy to babbling in the blink of an eye. “Oh my God, I’d never hear the end of it. Ever. So definitely not. Besides, I trip over things all the time. Or, I mean, they just get in the way? Sometimes I don’t totally see them, but I’m working on that. But, really, I’m pretty sure I’m fine, so you don’t have to worry about me, Zach.”
Zach’s lips twitched. The idea that Micah was chronically clumsy was better than worrying that he was dazed from his fall, and even though Zach wouldn’t have thought clumsiness was an attractive quality before, he had to admit he found it kind of adorable.
“Or, I mean, you can still worry about me, if you want?” Micah said, biting his lip as if he wanted to take the words back as soon as he said them. His face went even redder. “I mean, not worry, of course, but it was really nice of you to come check on me. And you can keep doing that? Because I am kind of dizzy, and the checking bit was nice, even though I’m pretty sure I didn’t hit my head. At least, not very hard. Well, except when I hit it on yours. Which, did I say sorry? Because
I’m sorry about that. It was an accident, and… oh my God. I’ll just stop, okay?”
He looked down at the camera around his neck, fiddling with it as if it was suddenly the most interesting thing in the world.
Zach grinned. So far, Micah seemed to operate in one of two modes: either shy and blushing and barely able to get two words out, or breathless and excited and prone to let his mouth run away with him. Both charmed Zach more than he would have expected, and when Micah finally got the courage to peek back up at him through long eyelashes that were just a shade darker than his pale blond hair—even though the look was too open and artless to have been intentionally flirty—Zach’s cock twitched in the tight confines of his wetsuit as if Micah had given him a blatant come-on.
He cleared his throat, his medical training kicking in despite the fact that he would have been more than happy to take Micah’s breathless monologue as flirting.
“Are you really feeling dizzy, Micah? Because concussion symptoms can be sneaky. It doesn’t hurt to check these things out. Maybe you really should consider the emergency room? I can drive you there, if you’d like.”
Zach suddenly hoped he’d say yes.
Micah shook his head. “No. I mean, yes about the dizziness, but I think I forgot to eat breakfast? So I’m pretty sure it’s just that. Well, that and…”
Micah’s words trailed off into silence as his eyes moved over Zach’s body, finally landing on his face as another one of those incredible blushes flooded through him, and Zach had to fight hard to keep from reacting. Micah was feeling dizzy because of him? It was flattering as hell if that’s what he’d meant, but for all Micah’s transparent interest, Zach didn’t really think he was flirting.
At least, not intentionally.
Micah covered his flaming cheeks again, adding in a tumbled rush of words, “But I’m not an expert on dizziness? So, you know, since you’re a medic, if you need to look me over some more—”
Micah snapped his mouth closed before he could finish that particular suggestion, and Zach wasn’t sure whether to laugh or groan.
“Maybe that’s a good idea,” he said, giving in and reaching for Micah’s hands. “After all, you are bleeding.”
And maybe “bleeding” was overstating it, but there were definite abrasions there.
“If the emergency room is a definite no-go, I’ve got a first aid kit in my truck.”
“Oh,” Micah said, the word coming out as a breathless little sigh when Zach ran a finger over the scrapes on Micah’s palms. “Okay.”
When yet another insta-blush colored his skin at the gentle touch, Zach couldn’t help but wonder just how responsive Micah would be to other forms of stimulation. He’d love to find out. He’d love to see just how much of Micah’s silky-looking skin turned red when he blushed like that. It came and went so quickly, but the color definitely extended over his throat. Would his chest flush with heat, too? His stomach? Lower? Micah’s mouth was puffy from the constant biting and it looked fucking delicious, and Zach tightened his grip, tugging Micah closer without meaning to.
Micah sucked in a sharp breath.
“Did I hurt you?” Zach asked, instantly letting go.
Shit. What was wrong with him? He’d never been one to lose himself like that.
“No,” Micah said, blinking up at him. His lips curved into a gorgeous smile, and the way he was looking at Zach made him feel like he needed to say something… something important. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he could feel it, welling up inside him with an unexpected urgency.
He cleared his throat. “Micah—”
“Everything okay here, Chief?”
The voice of Brody O’Shay, one of the friends Zach had met at the marina that morning, was like a dash of cold water. Zach stepped away from Micah, coming to his senses. He didn’t know what he’d been thinking. He was supposed to take Delia out to dinner in a few hours, and even if that ended up going nowhere, he at least owed her the courtesy of calling it off before he started pursuing someone else… and that wasn’t the only issue.
Micah was obviously young, and Zach’s stomach tightened as he tried to look at him objectively.
Micah looked… really young. Was he even legal? Zach honestly couldn’t tell.
He huffed out a breath, not sure if he was irritated or relieved at Brody’s interruption. The young Marine had grabbed his gear bag for him, and he handed it over to Zach as he and the rest of their friends clustered around, looking back and forth between Zach and Micah curiously.
“Found yourself a medical emergency, Z?” Gabe Byrne asked, his shit-eating grin making it clear he didn’t buy that explanation for a second.
“Is this a friend of yours, Zach?” Jake asked curiously. He held out his hand to Micah, friendly and outgoing as always. “Hi. I’m Jake, and this is my husband, Gabe, who has no manners.”
Gabe laughed unrepentantly, wrapping an arm around Jake’s waist. “I’m totally trainable, though. In fact, I’m a huge fan of positive reinforcement.”
He waggled his eyebrows at Jake suggestively, and Jake’s eyes lit up with a look that was probably too intimate for being out in public.
“Um, nice to meet you?” Micah said, even though he’d already lost Gabe and Jake’s attention. He scooted closer to Zach’s side as the rest of the guys introduced themselves, obviously a bit overwhelmed by the attention, and Zach felt a surge of protectiveness.
He liked being Micah’s safe place.
Liked, too, the way Micah kind of glowed as Zach’s friends joked around with him. And, if he was honest, he really liked the fact that—even though Micah was just as flustered and shy around the group of rowdy Marines as he’d been with Zach—his inadvertent flirtiness and breathless, babbling excitement seemed to be reserved for Zach alone.
“Dude, we’ve gotta head out,” Gabe said after a few minutes. He nodded in Micah’s direction, asking Zach, “You coming, Z, or…?”
“Give me a second,” Zach said, earning a few knowing smirks before his friends backed off to give him some privacy.
All of them except Brody.
“You sure you got this?” Brody asked lifting an eyebrow as he let his eyes roam over Micah appreciatively. “’Cause I’d be more than happy to lend a hand, Chief.”
Zach bristled. Brody’s comment had been blatantly suggestive, and the hungry look he was giving Micah? Zach loved Brody like a brother, but he was definitely a pain-in-the-ass, hot-tempered younger brother who tended to act without thinking things through and fuck anyone he could get his hands on.
Not happening.
“Um, no? But thank you,” Micah said, saving Zach the effort of telling Brody to back off. Micah shifted closer to Zach’s side, coloring up yet again. “I mean, Zach’s a medic? He’s really the one I need, and I just… I want Zach.”
Brody laughed. “I can tell, blondie,” he said, winking. “Just thought I’d throw out another offer in case the Chief’s not up to giving you what you… need.”
“Brody,” Zach said in warning, feeling absolutely none of the patience he normally had in spades.
Brody held his hands up in surrender, laughing again, but—thankfully—turning to follow after Gabe and the rest.
“Sorry about that,” Zach said to Micah as Brody left, making himself step away and put a little space between the two of them.
“I don’t mind,” Micah said, nibbling on his lip for a second before smiling up at Zach. “Your friends are nice. Um, were you going to say something? Before?”
Whatever it was that Zach had been about to say to Micah earlier—and he still wasn’t entirely sure what that would have been, only that it had felt necessary—it would have to wait until he sorted a few things out.
There was no denying that Micah was gorgeous in exactly the way that got to Zach the most. He had exactly the kind of delicate, fresh beauty that—male or female—tended to attract Zach like a bee to honey. But he also had something else, and the fact that Zach wasn’t quite sure what t
hat “something else” was, was going to make him crazy.
But not as crazy as it would be to pursue him if he turned out to be underage.
“Can I ask how old you are, Micah?” Zach asked, bracing himself as he sent up a silent prayer that the way he’d been reacting to Micah wasn’t even more out of line than he wanted to think about.
Micah was tiny; easily a foot shorter than Zach’s 6’2” and filled with a constant, exuberant energy that had the odd effect of making him seem somehow graceful, despite his moments of awkwardness. But while his small stature definitely added to the impression that he was young, it wasn’t the only thing. The oddly compelling mix of wide-eyed innocence and uninhibited excitement that peeked out between his waves of shyness made Zach seriously wonder. He could easily believe Micah to be anywhere between seventeen and twenty-five, and clearly only the latter end of that scale was even close to acceptable for the kind of interest Zach was feeling.
“I’m twenty-two,” Micah said, tilting his head to the side as he looked up at Zach quizzically. “Why?”
Zach grinned, a wave of relief hitting him as he debated how to answer that. Twenty-two was young—seven years younger than Zach and maybe too young to really be interested in the kind of relationship he was hoping to find—but at least it wasn’t too young. Not the kind of young that would have made him feel like a lecher for the decidedly dirty thoughts that flooded his brain every time Micah sucked that pouty lip into his mouth, or looked up at Zach like he’d have no problem at all with all the knee-jerk responses Zach’s dick was offering up in answer to Micah’s “why?”
Because your mouth makes me crazy.
Because I want to fuck you.
Because every time I’ve touched you, it’s been almost impossible to stop.
Looking For Love (Semper Fi, The Forever Faithful Series Book 2) Page 4
