International Banker, Beach Boy

by Mia Terry

  Rhys already had one wrapped around himself and a rather large lump in the towel's front was Ollie’s only indication Rhys was similarly encumbered. Ollie bent over to gather up his clothes and hide the smirk that celebrated his knowing that at least he wasn’t the only one who was similarly “moved” by their situation.

  “We can get changed in my cabin,” he told Rhys in a low voice. “I’ve even got two showers so neither of us will have to wait around to warm up.”

  “Sounds good,” Rhys replied, before raising his voice for the rest of the group. “Night guys, thanks for the great evening.”

  Ollie echoed Rhys’s good-night without really looking to see if his friends were replying. He was too focused on the man in front of him, and the ideas swirling through his head.

  The luxury cabin precinct Ollie shared with the others had the pool at the center, however, screens, and windows that faced out to private gardens, meant that once inside complete privacy was assured.

  Ollie was glad to have Rhys in his own little world, as the handsome man turned around and voiced his approval for the space. “A lot of my clients come from here, but I haven’t been in one of these since I did a tour of the place a couple of years ago.”

  “Yeah, it impressed me when we arrived. I’ve stayed in some great places over the years, but this is pretty high up there in the luxury stakes.”

  “Mark and Robert sold me on the concept when they wanted me to sign up as the main surfing instructor. I wasn’t sure at the time if there would be enough demand for this kind of crazy expensive luxury thing for gay men in Byron. But they proved me wrong, and I suppose it would be less than professional if I went to them and told them I can see now why people are willing to pay their exorbitant prices, after my own very bare pool experience.”

  “Testing out the merchandise is a very valid form of market research,” Ollie said. “So, in the name of market research do you want to try the outside or inside shower?”

  “You better give me the grand tour so I can make my choice,” Rhys replied.

  Ollie gestured towards the open bathroom door and led Rhys through, into the glossy, atmospherically lit room. The bathroom was spacious, and its focal point was the massive shower along one wall.

  “We may have a winner,” Rhys said. “Maybe you don’t have to show me anything else. I think I choose this one, even if it is big enough for a rugby team.”

  “If it is big enough for team sports, do you think I can hop in there with you,” said Ollie, before he could think enough to help himself.

  Rhys’s smile was warmly skeptical, when he looked over at Ollie. “I think if you hop in there with me, our conversation this morning about our relationship staying strictly friendly would be pretty dubious.”

  Ollie wanted Rhys, but he also knew there had been some valid reasons the man didn’t want to jump into bed with him. Knowing that, Ollie stuck his hands in the air as if in surrender. “It’s a big shower, look at the two showerheads. I’m a big boy capable of keeping my hands to myself and my eyes up, so we can both get warm at the same time.”

  Rhys cracked a smile, but the look of indecision on his face had Ollie adding, “I’m also a big boy who deals fine with the word ‘no’. Just tell me that, and I’ll jump into the shower outside and give you some peace.”

  His easy manner seemed to have disarmed Rhys enough that his next smile was wide and obviously genuine. “Big boy, huh? Well, I will have to check that out myself, so you better get that shower started.”

  Ollie moved to the large glass entry and dropped his towel onto the heated tile floor. “I thought part of the deal was keeping the eyes above the waist?” he asked, as he turned on the shower and tested the water for heat before he moved in.

  “Yeah well, neither of us are dead. Self-control is one thing, but absolute denial always seemed a little ridiculous to me.” Rhys dropped his own towel and moved into the shower next to him. “Hands to yourself still applies though.”

  They had showered together that very morning, and Ollie had thought it hot then. However, this morning the water had been cold, and both had been wearing board shorts and been out in the open with others around them. Now they were in a steamy shower which had definitely been designed with sex in mind, and no one was around to judge or stop anything happening. Ollie had absolute faith in his own ability for self-control, but he wasn’t sure that his resolve wouldn’t be tested if he looked down and saw Rhys was just as turned on as he was. Instead, he concentrated on letting the heavy spray of the shower warm him up and grabbed the soap for a quick wash.

  He kept his movements light and washed himself as impersonally as it was possible to wash your own body. If he lingered anywhere too long, it would look suspicious. And he was reasonably sure it wasn’t in any friend code to get himself off while showering next to a “friend.”

  He was concentrating so much on his “friend-zone” showering technique that he jumped when Rhys started humming to himself. “Sorry,” Rhys said when he looked over at him. “Shower habit. You should be glad I didn’t break into song.”

  “I don’t know, you didn’t sound out of tune. But the deciding question is what do you usually sing in the shower.”

  Thirty seconds later, Ollie’s mouth was open in surprise. Rhys had launched into a very credible rendition of the Spice Girls earliest massive hit Wannabe. Forty-five seconds later, Ollie was propping himself up on the shower ledge, laughing his ass off. It turned out that particular sex aid was handy when you couldn’t stand for laughing.

  “Are you sure you really, really, really wanna sing that,” Ollie joked. That it was this cool surfer boy busting out the tune was completely incongruous and too cute for Ollie to contemplate.

  “My parents maybe started to get the hint about my sexuality when I was eight and knew every single word to that song,” Rhys said. “Though the total effect is probably more effective with the choreography.”

  Ollie was so amused by that particular idea he didn’t feel more than a light tug of regret as Rhys got out of the shower. “Please, please, tell me you can still do that corro.”

  “I’m sure I did that dance enough times it is imprinted in my DNA. It was very popular that year at Byron Bay primary. But at the moment, I can’t think of a trade you can offer me that would have me busting out those moves.”

  For Ollie, that the tiles under his feet were heated was a nice bonus for losing the comfort of the warm spray of water. He stood in front of Rhys with a matching towel around his waist and lowered his voice to its most seductive level. “I’m sure there is some trade that could satisfy your sense of fairness.”

  Rhys only held his gaze for one more long moment, before taking an actual step back. Ollie would have felt much more discouraged if he hadn’t seen Rhys’s pupils dilate in arousal.

  “We might have to renegotiate it at another time,” Rhys said, his voice only breaking a little. “I’ve got a reasonably early start tomorrow and you’ve got another surf lesson, so you better drive me home.”

  “Absolutely,” Ollie said. “I’ll just grab my clothes.” Ollie tried not imprinting on his memory the fact Rhys slipped on his jeans bare-assed and just shoved his boxers into his pocket. Yeah, now knowing Rhys was commando wasn’t helping the fact the iron bar in Ollie’s pants didn’t seem to be going away anytime soon.

  They exited, via the side door, and walked down the dimly lit paths with more purpose than they had on the earlier journey. Ollie, however, enjoyed how they walked side by side with shoulders bumping occasionally. He knew this was as much as he could hope for at the moment, even if his palm oddly itched like it wanted Rhys’s hand in his.

  Driving Rhys home, they kept the conversation light, comparing embarrassing pop tunes they had somehow absorbed during their teen years. Ollie had to concentrate on his driving. There were no streetlights in these hills and the roads were narrow and the turns sharp. Rhys warned him when they were close to the turnoff and Ollie pulled into the turning circle o
utside of Rhys’s home.

  “Do you want me to meet you at the beach tomorrow morning and save you the drive?” Ollie asked Rhys.

  “Part of the service,” Rhys said with a casual wave of his hand.

  Ollie suddenly felt on the back foot, back to being just a client, and he really didn’t enjoy the demotion. His voice, when he spoke, was tight. “No service. I pay for the surfing lesson but nothing else. So, would it suit your day better tomorrow if I drove down to you and you didn’t have to leave the beach afterward?”

  Rhys’s face softened as if he knew the implication of his words. “Thanks, you’re very sweet to consider it, to consider me. But I’ll enjoy getting to pick you up tomorrow, so is eight going to be okay.”

  “You’ll break your early morning rules for me?” Ollie asked.

  “Well, tonight some dude kept me up late, so I thought we might both enjoy a later morning start.”

  “Not going to turn that one down,” Ollie smiled.

  Rhys seemed to linger. Ollie could tell he wasn’t going to be asked in, but still, Rhys didn’t seem willing to say good-bye. Looking at him, Ollie did the only thing he’d been able to think of since he’d seen Rhys’s upturned face looking at the stars. He leaned across the gearbox and ran his hand gently across Rhys’s face. Just the feel of that strong jaw, with the slightly prickly five o’clock shadow, left him lost in sensation. When Rhys moved forward, leaning in the rest of the way, their lips met and that first taste of him was so intoxicating Ollie’s gentle caress of the jaw became a hand laced around Rhys’s head, as his mouth nipped at Rhys's lips. Rhys was equally enthusiastic in response and the moan of pleasure from his mouth was quite possibly the best sound Ollie had ever heard. However, knowing this kiss was only supposed to be a kiss, rather than the beginning of foreplay had Ollie pulling back.

  For a long minute, only the sound of their accelerated breathing filled the car.

  “OK. Chemistry isn’t our problem,” Rhys’s words might have sounded dry, but the hoarse tone in his voice showed he was still under the influence of their kiss.

  “Did you really think it would be a problem between us?” Ollie replied, even though he hadn’t known how drunk he’d feel off just that one kiss. He knew he couldn’t remember the touch of any other man’s lips making him feel this way.

  “Since when could merchant bankers kiss that well?”

  With the obvious lust between them, Ollie knew he might be able to push Rhys into taking him into his bed tonight, but suddenly Ollie wanted more. He wanted the decision for them to be together for the first time to be more than chemistry. He wanted them being together to be a decision where they both wanted this in the clear light of day. So, rather than escalate their closeness, he moved farther away.

  “Hey merchant banking is an equal opportunity kissing profession,” Ollie said, keeping his voice deliberately light. “But it’s a boring enough profession that I’m not used to late hours, so I better drive myself home.”

  Rhys’s smile looked to be part relief, part regret. “Well, it was a night to remember and the dinner itself was delicious. So thank you.”

  “No one I’d rather share it with,” Ollie replied. The sad truth was this was true. Ollie had been on rather a lot of dates in his life, and quite a few more hookups, but at this moment he couldn’t think of a single man whose company he had enjoyed more.

  So, he watched as Rhys climbed out of the car, and standing at his door, raised his hand in farewell.

  While it might be the first time he’d seen his date naked without getting an orgasm in the bargain, Ollie knew he didn’t regret a single thing about the night they’d shared.

  Chapter 6

  The next morning, Rhys enjoyed the crispness of the morning air as he unloaded his truck with Ollie by his side. This morning was late enough, and the surf good enough, that the beach and the waves would not be totally deserted. However, he had enough faith in Ollie’s water skills, even if not his surfing, that he wasn’t worried about him creating a hazard on the busier break.

  He’d been concerned this morning his interaction with Ollie would be awkward, but Ollie had greeted him at the resort’s car park with a coffee in hand, easily handing it over and saying, “This is for the coffee I promised, but didn’t actually deliver last night.”

  Rhys hadn’t been able to do anything but stretch his cheeks smiling at Ollie’s easy charm. It was also impossible not to note Ollie had remembered exactly his coffee order from the day before.

  They’d spoken easily of the neutral topics relating to the night before, comparing dinners they’d ordered with other restaurants in the area. Ollie was a skilled conversationalist, and his story about a famous restaurant in Sydney and the degustation meal that seemed to never end—sixteen courses—had left Rhys gasping with laughter.

  Now they stood, side by side, stripping down to their board shorts. Rhys looked over appreciatively at Ollie’s bare chest. Yeah, he would not forget that he’d seen more of Ollie’s beautiful body last night. Rhys also couldn’t pretend to himself that he hadn’t been thinking very vividly of a naked Ollie after he had gone to bed last night as he rutted against the cool sheets.

  He’d gone to bed pretending the kiss hadn’t turned him inside out, and then, unable to hold himself back had got himself off to the memory of Ollie soaping himself in the shower next to him.

  As much as Rhys had repeatedly told himself he wasn’t into a quick fling with a tourist, there was something about Ollie, even more than the man’s obvious physical attributes that drew Rhys to him. Despite the sexual tension simmering between them, there was also a rare comfort that made him feel at ease. And that was something rare among the men Rhys had been with in the past.

  “Do you know all the guys out there today?” Ollie asked.

  Rhys scanned the surfers though he was sure he already knew the answer. “Nah. Despite Byron’s slacker reputation most of the local guys my age who stayed here actually do have paying jobs… and the surf just isn’t great enough for any of them to be throwing a sickie.”

  Ollie looked over at him, “Do they really do that?”

  The tone of disbelief in Ollie’s voice surprised Rhys. Though he supposed in the more cutthroat corporate world of Ollie’s you probably had to have a note from the hospital to justify an unexpected day off.

  “Well, let’s just say the building sites of Byron fall quiet if there is a pumping surf. And no one expects their plumber to turn up on any day the waves are glassy. But today is only ordinary, so most of the guys in the surf are the tourists. Even the Byron retirees have already finished their morning surf and are filling up the coffee shops as we speak.”

  This time, Ollie didn’t have any trouble untangling his leg rope, and got into the water like a pro. The man obviously picked up skills quickly, though Rhys doubted he’d be able to do more than a few quick rides in the slightly choppy surf.

  “It’s beautiful here,” Ollie commented. “It really isn’t a bad office to be doing your job.”

  “I do think that pretty much every day,” Rhys agreed. He never got sick of looking out over the sparkling water. He knew he was lucky to do a job in an environment he loved, and even luckier to get a more-than-fair wage doing it.

  They paddled past a few guys mucking about on the waves. The young guys were using older more buoyant boards of the type that were rented out by the hour, and Rhys made a note to keep Ollie away from them. They didn’t seem to have the skills to be out here on their own and one of the idiots hadn’t even attached a leg rope.

  Rhys thought about stopping to give them a lecture about surf etiquette, but the sparkling water past the break beckoned and the thought of Ollie’s company seemed a lot more appealing than a possibly ugly scene if he started being a policeman of the waves.

  So instead, keeping a close eye on Ollie, Rhys paddled out past the break and sat up on his board with Ollie beside him.

  “Did you see any of the other boys this morning?” Rhys
asked as they waited for the next set of waves.

  Ollie’s smile widened. “So not. I’ll be amazed if they surface before noon today. I imagine they would have kept each other busy last night and be cozily sleeping in this morning. But I hope they didn’t put you off hanging out with us all last night.”

  “Mate I was on the professional surfing tour. When we rented a house, one of the reasons we would lose the deposit was inevitably someone would throw a party where the guests would be having sex on every spare piece of furniture, or the garden would be half-flattened from the amount of people humping out there. Last night was pretty low-key compared to that.”

  Ollie’s laugh came low and easy and got Rhys in the solar plexus. “I can imagine, though there were probably too many boobs around for me to want to spend too much alone time picturing it.”

  “Ah, yeah, well I can say that the action last night being male on male made a nice change.” Rhys wasn’t a voyeur, but he had to admit that remembering the sight of Billy and Kris together while Ollie had been so close to him in the pool, was creating a bit of a situation where his dick was pressing hard against his suddenly too constraining board shorts. Only the sight of the approaching set of waves had him breaking Ollie’s gaze.

  “Okay, you’ll want to paddle now,” he ordered, suddenly back in surf teacher mode.

  He liked watching Ollie immediately respond to his direction. This was reasonably rare in men, especially those whose work made them more used to giving orders than taking them. Also, something to appreciate was the bunching of Ollie’s biceps as he took off on the wave. Today Ollie’s movements were more confident, and he leaned his weight correctly into the wave, catching the momentum of the wave towards shore. Getting up still wasn’t the most graceful of his movements, but his smile when he was on the board, on his feet, was glowing and picture perfect. It wasn’t the longest ride, as Ollie somehow got tangled up in his feet, but watching him muscle back onto his board meant Rhys couldn’t help a proud smile as Ollie paddled back to him.