Page 13 of Only One Beach House

CASPIAN

I peek into the oven to check on dinner, then look at the clock for the hundredth time in the past twenty minutes. Nolan’s plane landed an hour ago, which means he should be walking through the door any minute. I pulled out all the stops with dinner and even have a bottle of champagne chilling in the fridge.

After two months together full of long nights spent talking until sunrise and lazy mornings exploring each other’s bodies, I’m surprised by how nervous I am. This feels like a first date. We’re going to tell Slater the truth the next time we see him. We’re going to figure things out when Nolan gets this job. We’re going to do this thing for real.

Fuck, I couldn’t be happier.

The sound of an engine outside brings a fresh smile to my face. I wash my hands and double check that I’m happy with how the table looks, and then I hurry to the front door so I can greet him as soon as he steps inside.

The door starts to swing open when I’m halfway down the hall, and I pick up into a jog. All I can think about is sweeping him up into my arms and kissing the fuck out of him. Sunlight floods through the door and I skid to an abrupt stop.

“Wow, you missed your big bro so much that you’re sprinting to the door to greet me?” Slater teases, stepping inside and tossing a duffle bag down on the floor. He spreads his arms wide, and I laugh weakly, working through the whiplash of expecting Nolan and getting my brother instead.

He pulls me in for a hug, slapping my back and ruffling my hair when he releases me.

“You could have texted. You’re lucky I wasn’t dick out when you walked in.”

His eyebrows go up and he laughs. “You’ve been making a habit of walking around naked all summer with Nolan here? Poor guy must need a gallon of eye bleach every day.”

I open and close my mouth, floundering for a response. Do I tell him? Would Nolan want me to wait until he’s here or just rip the Band-Aid off?

“Damn, something smells good.” He sniffs the air, pats my chest, and then skirts past me towards the kitchen.

“It’s chicken marsala. I figured Nolan would be hungry after traveling.” I follow him to the kitchen. “What are you doing here?”

“Way to make a guy feel welcome.” Slater chuckles. “I told you I’ve been trying to get away for the weekend. It sucks you guys have been having all kinds of fun up here all summer without me.”

I choke on a laugh and cover it with a cough. “I don’t think it’s been the kind of fun you’d be interested in.”

“What? You two art geeks wasting the summer sitting inside?” he teases.

“Pretty much,” I answer honestly.

“Cas.” Nolan’s voice rings out from the front hall. “I cannotbelieveyou didn’t greet me at the door with your—”

“Slater’s here,” I shout, cutting him off before he can really blow our big reveal. Although, with how dense Slater is being, he might even chalk whatever Nolan was about to say up to nothing more than friendly joking anyway.

“Wha—” Nolan comes around the corner and stops in his tracks, his eyes going wide. His smile slips into an expression of panic, then returns as he huffs out a breathless titter of laughter. “Slater, holy shit. I can’t believe you’re here.”

He crosses the kitchen, and my brother yanks him into a big hug, slapping his back and then hanging on for a few extra seconds. I study the way Slater holds on to Nolan, making sure I haven’t missed any signs that my brother might be crushing on his best friend. But everything about the embrace screams ‘platonic.’ I let out a relieved breath and skirt around them to pull the food out of the oven.

“You made dinner,” Nolan says when they part.

“I figured a welcome back celebration was in order,” I say, going over to the fridge and pulling out the bottle of champagne.

A sweet smile tilts his lips and his cheeks pink. “Cas,” he says my name softly.

Slater snorts. “He was gone for like thirty hours. Or… wait…” He looks between the two of us with a calculating look in his eyes. “Did you get the job, No?”

“I’m not sure yet. They told me they were doing another interview today and that I’d hear back within the week.”

“You’re going to get it,” I say confidently, my fingers itching to reach out for him and pull him into a kiss.

“I hope so,” he says with a groan, then he looks back at Slater. “Oh shoot, I just realized there’s nowhere for you to sleep. The bedrooms upstairs are all stripped bare, right?”

My brother frowns and I bite the inside of my cheek against the guilty smile that wants to spread across my face.

“What are you talking about? The bedrooms were re-done last year.” He frowns.

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