Page 43 of Bull Riders Don't Swoon

“I thought you said you wanted this to go slow?”

“I made an error in judgment.”

“We’re literally standing on a public beach, Griff.” With a huff, I drop my head to his shoulder, and he flexes his hips, poking me with his growing problem. “Don’t think I don’t want to, but I’d like to not get arrested out of province.” He tilts my chin up and takes my lips in a tender kiss. “The first time we do that, I’d like it to be just us and not include the random strangers who might walk by.”

“Why did I suggest coming here?” I groan.

“Actually, let’s get ice cream and you can tell me all about that.”

“There’s ice cream here?”

He points his chin back towards the dock. “There was a little building near the dock, and I’m positive it said ice cream. Let’s take a walk, then cool off.”

Pressing on my dick, I raise an eyebrow. “I need to cool off first.”

He snickers and tugs me over to our bags. “Sure. I’ll wrap your arm, we’ll wade out and get our dicks wet in the un-fun way, then we’ll get ice cream.”

Honestly, his calm shouldn’t surprise me. Jamieson can maintain his composure on the back of a bucking bull. Common sense says he can do the same while sporting an obvious hard-on in his swim shorts.

And when you finish the deal off with the promise of ice cream, that’s just the mark of a true professional in calm.

fourteen

Jamieson

“The sunset out here is gorgeous. I wish we had more lakes near home to do this.”

“Me too.”

Griff presses back into my chest as I hold him close. The boat we took to the beach has an upper deck and we’ve come up here to enjoy the sunset, along with a few other couples. It’s a stunning view.

I don’t just mean the sunset either. Griff has always had a tender heart. I knew that when I met him, but he often kept it hidden. Today he showed me all of him and I can’t stop seeing him in a different light. He’s an attractive man. I’ve always thought that too, but now that I’ve peeled back a few more layers, his inherent goodness is more beautiful than any sunset.

After we found ice cream and walked along the beach, he shared with me how vacations held mixed emotions for him. His mother left when he was just a young boy, and he had no memories of family vacations. His father often broke his promises to him, and Griff held onto those broken promises so hard he caused himself physical pain.

When he was only ten years old, he wanted so badly to visit a beach and collect seashells from the ocean. His dad said they’dtake a road trip once school was out and visit a place in British Columbia. They talked about it and planned for a month. When school ended, his dad kept brushing it off and making excuses until poor ten-year-old Griff realized it would never happen.

Griff forgave his dad because he figured out it was the grief and the alcohol, and his father often said things he didn’t mean. But he never let the wound heal. Meanwhile, my parents took us to Cuba and Mexico during spring break almost every year. While I left Griff during reading week to go catch some sun in the middle of Canadian winter, he smiled and wished me so much fun, promising he’d enjoy his week off.

He didn’t.

He made a quick trip home in his shitty car to check on his dad before coming back to the dorms to study or pick up an odd job for a few days, like waxing floors in the cafeteria. Griff never once complained or said anything about it to me, choosing instead to hear me rave about the resort and how amazing it was to sleep on the beach during the day and party at night.

I realize we come from different backgrounds, and it was a privilege my family had, but not once did he ever let on that perhaps my life was one he envied.

“Hey, where did you go?” Griff tilts his head back, and the freckles along his nose are a little more prominent after the sun today. He still smells like coconut sunscreen and his smile is so fucking happy it just gets me right in the feels. This is the spring break he never had. The elusive vacation he wanted as a ten-year-old, and he did it with me.

My chest aches with the emotion that swamps you when you come to realize someone made you their number one, their mostimportant person, and guilt scratches alongside that realization. We could have shared these things for years, but I lived fast and free, chasing casual sex and allowing my family to spoil me with things Griff never had.

I press a kiss to the side of his neck and squeeze my eyes closed. Christ, I’ve never been emotional like this. I squeeze my arms tighter around Griff, pressing him so close. I wish I could crawl inside and mend all the bruises on his heart.

“Not complaining about the hug, but it’s hard to breathe, Jamie.”

With a watery laugh, I release my hold, and he turns in my arms to face me. The sun has almost disappeared, and the dock is in view. In a few short minutes, this magical day will be over.

“Are you okay?” Griff brushes a stray piece of hair off my forehead, and the creases on his forehead deepen.

“I’m fine. More than fine. I had an epiphany of sorts, and it kind of caught me off guard.”

---