“Do you like hockey?”
Noah shifted his attention from the movie to Dare, twisting slightly in his chair to see him better. “Yeah. Why?”
Dare shrugged. “That’s what you reminded me of. A hockey player.”
“What about you? You like hockey?”
“Love it. Gannon happens to be friends with the guy who owns the Austin Arrows. Got us season tickets last year.”
“No shit?” Noah didn’t bother to mention that the Austin Arrows had had their shittiest year since the inception of the team. Probably no need to point that out.
“Maybe when the season starts again, we can go to a game.”
Noah nodded. He would like that. A lot.
And in the meantime, he wanted to spend the rest of the night right here.
Beside Dare.
Not moving.
Milly sat beside AJ while they watched a movie outside under the stars. About fifteen feet in front of her, she noticed Dare and Noah were doing the same. At first she was surprised to see them there, had even been tempted to go join them, but she’d decided against it when she’d seen Noah take Dare’s hand.
Although she had stuck her nose where it didn’t belong when it came to Gannon and Cam, Milly knew she couldn’t do the same with these two. Then again, based on how cozy they were, she probably didn’t need to. Her talk with Noah yesterday had been enlightening—probably for him as much as for her. No doubt in her mind, the man had feelings for Dare.
For a brief moment, she wondered what that felt like. To be reunited with someone from your past, someone who’d left such a huge mark on your life…
She dared a glance at AJ and smiled to herself.
Last night, they’d had a few too many drinks and things had happened. This morning, when she’d awoken to find him still in her bed, she’d been a little surprised. But it had been a good surprise.
Granted, she absolutely did not see this going anywhere at all, despite how much she had enjoyed his pierced penis. But it hadn’t all been about mind-blowing orgasms. They’d had plenty to talk about, because oddly they had a lot in common, but Milly continued to keep her heart guarded. She knew there was no long term where AJ was concerned. He was a good guy, a gentleman. He had a full-time job, a house, and from their conversations, he had aspirations.
Those were qualities that men who were looking for long term with her tended to lack, and she’d learned to deal with that over the years. In essence, AJ was too much of a grown-up for her, and there was no reason she was going to get her hopes up.
So, she’d passively suggested they enjoy their time together while they were on the ship, making light of any kind of future. For a brief instant, she’d thought she’d seen a little regret in AJ’s eyes, but she didn’t know him well enough to be sure.
Not that it mattered. Her focus wasn’t on herself and she didn’t plan for it to be. They had two more days before Gannon and Cam tied the knot, and truth be told, she simply wanted to get to that day. She wanted to watch her best friend marry the love of his life. It made her heart swell to think of the love those two men shared for one another.
She peeked over at AJ once more.
Maybe one day she would be lucky enough to find that.
But she definitely wasn’t holding her breath.
Eighteen
Wednesday, June 1st
Cruise, day four
Dare wasn’t sure which way was up.
Not literally, of course. He could see the ceiling from where he lay on the twin bed, so it was rather obvious. However, the overabundance of emotions churning through him was throwing him off his game.
They were on day four of the trip, the boat currently docked in St. Thomas. Dare had already spent a few hours at the beach with Noah before returning to the ship, only at that point, things had gone a little sideways. Once on board, he and Noah had gone their separate ways. And now Dare was alone, passing the time before he had to be at the rehearsal dinner. While he wondered if Noah would make an appearance, he continued to reflect on all that had happened.
Technically, nothing had happened yet. Not between him and Noah.
Well, nothing more than the smoking-hot kiss they’d shared on the beach a couple of days ago and the few minutes they’d spent naked in the shower together. The latter was far more innocent than even his memories wanted to portray.
And last night…
Perhaps that was the strangest of all. They’d spent a couple of hours on the deck, holding hands and watching some crappy movie before returning to the cabin. As though nothing had happened between them, they had crawled into separate beds and fallen asleep almost immediately. Granted, Dare had then dreamed about sucking a certain hot firefighter’s dick, but it hadn’t come to fruition.
He was beginning to think that it wouldn’t, which confused him.
No doubt in his mind that the blow job wager was what had thrown things off course, though. Ever since last night, Dare had felt the tension increase between them. Something was going on, something more than he had anticipated, but it was clear neither of them knew how to address the situation.
Part of him had expected Noah to be a little more receptive, possibly a little more aggressive even.
But no.
It was as though the bet had never taken place. Then again, that was probably a good thing, considering.
Not that he should be thinking of any of that. He should’ve been getting ready for the rehearsal dinner so that he could spend the next couple of hours with his buddies, gearing up for tomorrow. D-day. Yep, Cam and Gannon would be tying the knot, and here Dare was thinking about all the things he wanted to do to Noah. Clearly he’d lost sight of his priorities somewhere along the way.
Probably had started the first time Noah had taken his shirt off.
Or maybe even the first time he’d laid eyes on Milly’s stepbrother at the beginning of the trip. Ever since then, he’d been unhinged.
Dare sat up on the bed and tried to relax his shoulders. He needed to get his head on straight. As it was, Noah had been avoiding him for most of the day, claiming he needed to spend some time with Milly, to help with the wedding, or so he had said. Since Roan was helping her with everything she needed help with, he knew it was a way for Noah to put some distance between them.
Again, probably not a bad thing.
Pushing off the bed, he opted to take a shower and get ready. There were still a couple of hours before the dinner, but he couldn’t sit in the cabin any longer. Since he hadn’t seen Noah in a couple of hours, Dare figured he’d be back at some point to get ready, and for some reason, he didn’t want to be there when that time came.
Two hours later, Dare managed to make his way to the banquet room where the rehearsal dinner was being held. After showering and getting dressed in a pair of jeans and a navy-blue polo, he’d reluctantly resigned himself to not seeing Noah before dinner, so he’d gone down to the main deck and had a beer, sitting alone at one of the bars and watching people enjoying themselves.
He had run into Hudson at one point, and they’d talked about what the night would entail. Since Dare had never actually been to a wedding, he’d mistakenly thought they were going to do a walk through—hence the word rehearsal—but felt immensely better when Hudson had informed him (after silently laughing his ass off) that wasn’t the case. According to the man, Milly had everything under control, and she’d taken to working directly with the wedding coordinator, so tonight would only consist of a few reminders of where they needed to be tomorrow night and when.
Everything—at least in theory—seemed to be right on track.
Everything except for the fact that Noah Pearson was avoiding him, and Dare didn’t understand why.
Did the guy think Dare was going to attack his dick with his mouth?
Okay, maybe he’d thought about it once.
Twice.
Whatever.
From the moment Noah had walked into their cabin last night until the second
he’d managed to escape this morning, he had thought of nothing more than helping Dare out of his clothes and devouring him.
He hadn’t, though.
He had spent a terribly long time thinking about it, however. Especially when they’d gone down to the beach and spent time in the water. During those two torturous hours, Noah had learned that he had very little patience when it came to Dare. And he’d come up with only one way to prevent the inevitable.
Instead of facing the music, he had bolted. Quickly. And for a long period of time, using Milly as an excuse.
Granted, that probably wasn’t the most adult way to handle the situation.
If he had to do it all over again, he would. Which kind of sucked.
Now that he’d managed to shower, shave, and dress, he felt somewhat more put together. He also hadn’t seen Dare in hours, so that helped, too. Not that he didn’t want to see Dare. Quite the opposite, actually, but he was trying to do this the right way. In only a few short days, they’d managed to rekindle the friendship they’d once had, and Noah didn’t want to do anything to ruin that.
Sex would ruin that, of that he was certain.
Which was why he was hiding from Dare.
Now, as he waited in the hall outside of Milly’s cabin, Noah glanced at his watch. They still had roughly half an hour before dinner. However, he’d been sure his stepsister had insisted they get down there a little early. He wondered how long it took women to really get ready for something like this. For him, it required a razor, a shower, and the clothes he had already planned to wear. Ten minutes, maybe fifteen, tops. Apparently, women required a lot longer.
He knocked on her door again.
“Hold on!” Milly called out a second before she turned the knob and pulled open the door.
Pushing it in farther, he peeked inside to ensure she was decent. He found Milly staring into the mirror, putting her earrings in.
“Sorry. I’m hurrying.”
“I’m not the one on a deadline,” he told her.
“I know. I know. Gannon’s always getting on me about these things.” Milly smiled as she ran her hand over her dress. “It’s a wonder I get to work every day on time.”
“You’ve still got time.” He didn’t know what she planned to do before the meal was served, though.
“Nope. I’m ready. This is as good as it gets.”
“Well, if it’s any consolation, you look beautiful.”
She seemed to release a breath when he said that.
“Thank you.”
The next thing Noah knew, they were stepping out into the hall, Milly on his arm.
She smiled up at him. “You feeling any better?”
As he led her down the hall toward the elevator, he glanced over at her. “Much.” It wasn’t a complete lie, but it wasn’t the truth, either.
“Just relax. Things will happen as they’re meant to happen.”
Noah nodded. He’d broken down and shared some of his fears with Milly when he’d been talking to her over lunch earlier that day. He hadn’t planned for all those feelings to come gushing out of his mouth, but once they were out there, he’d felt a little better. Then again, Milly had already suspected something was going on between them since she had evidently seen them holding hands last night.
Holding hands was only the tip of the iceberg when it came to things Noah wanted to do to Dare, but it seemed that simple, intimate gesture had totally thrown him for a loop. He wasn’t even sure which way was up anymore, and quite frankly, it scared him.
Once downstairs, Noah navigated the busy main floor until they made it to the corridor that led to the banquet room. He offered Milly another quick smile as she released his arm.
“Good luck,” she whispered.
“Thanks.” He’d definitely need it.
As he walked farther into the banquet room, his eyes immediately zeroed in on the sexy man currently having a conversation with Hudson and Teague at the same table they’d shared the first night on the ship. Looked as though Noah would be sharing dinner with Dare again. He hoped that was a good thing.
After wiping his sweaty palms on his slacks, Noah made his way over to the table, smiling down at Dare as he took the seat beside him.
“Hey.” Dare’s greeting held a hint of confusion, but Noah didn’t detect any animosity.
“Hey,” Noah replied, leaning over and brushing his arm against Dare’s. He wanted him to know that things were cool between them, even if they weren’t. Not completely, anyway.
He wasn’t sure what, if anything, was going through Dare’s mind, but Noah was having a hell of a time trying to keep things in perspective, trying to remember what was off-limits to him. He wanted Dare, and he was fairly certain Dare wanted him, only Noah knew that moving forward wasn’t the way this was supposed to happen. He needed to remember that their chance at love was in the past, not the future.
This was about friendship, and Dare didn’t need Noah thinking otherwise and screwing up a good thing. Sure as shit, Noah knew if he accepted his feelings for Dare at this point, he would be doing just that.
Hopefully he could pretend long enough to make it through a meal together.
An hour later, after dinner had been served and devoured, and as dessert was being brought out, Noah felt more relaxed. He’d spent the majority of dinner being regaled with humorous stories of life with Dare. To his surprise, Hudson had been a fountain of information, continuously telling one story after another about life at the marina.
Dare had argued a time or two, insisting that Hudson had the story all wrong, keeping everyone at the table laughing along with him. It had been nice, to say the least, and again, Noah found himself enjoying a moment with Dare that he didn’t want to end.
The clink of metal against glass sounded, and Noah’s attention was drawn to Cam’s father, Michael Strickland, an older man with a thick white mustache, whom Noah had been introduced to on the first day, sitting at the table with Cam and Gannon.
“First, I want to thank you all for coming. I hope you’ve had a chance to enjoy the cruise so far,” Michael said to the group as he got to his feet. “It’s quite an honor to have y’all here to celebrate my son’s upcoming nuptials. It’s a little hard to believe that the day has finally come. We’ve spent the past year waiting for this moment to get here.” The man looked at Cam directly, then over to Gannon before turning back to the group.
“A father has one goal in his life and that is to set a good example for his children. To raise them right, teach them to embrace what life throws at them, and to overcome the obstacles put in their path. I would like to think that I did a good job of that.” Mr. Strickland smiled, then took a sip of water. “I don’t think I can truly express how proud I am of these two men. Though I know their relationship hasn’t been easy”—Mr. Strickland peered around the room—“but what relationship is, right?”
Cordial laughter ensued.
“Despite the obstacles they’ve had to overcome, these two have forged ahead, walking side by side, hand in hand, to do it together. And this time tomorrow, I’ll be welcoming another son-in-law into my family.”
Cam’s father took a moment, apparently choked up, but he forced a smile. “I wish Cam’s mother could be here with us. She would be so proud, just as I am. But I know she’s watching from above, making sure that these two remarkable men will have the perfect day.”
For a second, Noah felt his chest tighten as he thought about his own father, the hole that had been created in his life when he had tragically died. A car accident had stolen his father from him, leaving a void even bigger than the one he’d been dealing with at the time.
“I want to propose a toast,” Michael continued, glancing over at Cam and Gannon once more. “To a lifetime of happiness. Together.”
A chorus of “cheers” sounded, glasses clinking together, and Noah joined in, not thinking when he clinked his glass against Dare’s, their eyes meeting momentarily.
For a brief second,
he allowed himself to travel down the what-if road.
What if he and Dare had stayed together?
What if he and Dare had gotten married?
What if…
“Are you okay?” Dare asked, his voice soft, but loud enough to interrupt Noah’s thoughts.
Noah nodded, clearing his throat. “I’m good.”
Thankfully, Gannon saved the day when he got to his feet, smiling at everyone.
“I have to say, I never thought I’d see this day.” Several people laughed, and Noah noticed Gannon was still a little pale, but far better than he’d been on the first day. “First of all, I’m on a cruise, and I can honestly tell you that if it weren’t for the fact that this man means more to me than dry land, I probably wouldn’t be here.” More laughter. “But I am, and because he’s by my side, I know that I can overcome my fears, of which I have many. So, I want to thank each and every one of you for coming, because tomorrow will, no doubt, be the best day of my entire life, when I finally get to call this man my husband.”
Applause erupted and then conversation picked back up.
Only then did Noah excuse himself, suddenly in desperate need of air.
Nineteen
Okay, Dare had to admit that Noah’s vanishing act was getting a little tiring. He wasn’t sure what had caused Noah to run out of the room, but sure as shit, he’d taken off like his ass was on fire.
As he drank his beer, he noticed Hudson was looking at him, a question on his face.
Dare shrugged. He didn’t know what Noah was up to, didn’t know what had caused him to jet, and he didn’t know whether or not he should go after him.
Things were getting way too real between them. To the point that Dare wasn’t sure digging into Noah’s personal feelings was a good thing right now. As it was, he felt a little abandoned due to Noah’s disappearance earlier in the day and now…
He didn’t know what to think.
Hudson signed: You want me to go check on him?
Dare shook his head. No, if anyone had to check on Noah, it needed to be him. Mostly because Dare didn’t want it to be anyone besides him.
Fearless (Pier 70 Book 2) Page 14
