Page 71 of Meet You in the Waves
“Yep, the usual,” he replied. And that was that.
“That wasn’t so bad,” I said, a teasing smile on my face.
Nick tugged me closer, leaning in to whisper in my ear. “Be prepared for the entire town of Esperance to know about us bythe end of the night. Word travels fast in these parts and these guys here are a bunch of hopeless gossips.”
“Hmm. Doesn’t look like anyone’s all that surprised though,” I had to admit as I glanced around the pub.
“Oh these guys have been giving me hell since the first day I walked in here with you. Believe me, no one in here is surprised.”
I could only laugh at that, secretly pleased that this town and some of the fairly tough looking bikie guys here in this pub all seemed to accept Nick. I was sure it wasn’t as simple as that, he’d said as much to me already, but it was good to know.
I scooted closer to him and let my hand drift down his back, leaning my chin on his shoulder until Terry returned with our drinks.
“I’ll put it on your tab,” he said. “Enjoy, boys.” He winked at us and I almost laughed as I recalled the way he’d said the same thing to us since I’d first joined Nick here at Paddy’s. Like everyone in this town was in on our secret before even I was. Guess I really was slow on the uptake.
Nick kept a hand on my lower back as we moved towards the sofa. Rob and Mateo were not here yet so he pulled me down into the corner of the sofa and I pressed into his side as we shared a secret smile. He clinked his glass to mine and we drank, his eyes not leaving mine.
Rob sat down heavily beside me a while later, a pint in his hand and a smile on his lips as he took the two of us in, Mateo hovering in the background.
“Right then,” he said. “Shall we get this pool tournament underway?” I grinned and nodded, glad to have at least this friend’s approval my way as Nick and I moved out from the sofa.
And if his hands touched me a little more than before, if I found myself standing beside him, our pinkies linked and his eyes alight as he continued to trash talk me about my game,well then, who was I to stop myself from giving in to this thing between us. This thing that was by no means just athing.
But I didn’t quite have the words to describe what we were to each other. About what Nick was becoming to me. So I just let myself enjoy him, enjoy his town and his friends and not worry about the fact that our summer break was fast approaching an end.
CHAPTER 24
ajay
Ifelt Nick behind me as I stood at the kitchen island washing dishes after the amazing dinner Nick had made us. It all felt surprisingly domesticated, this, doing homely chores together. I liked it way more than I wanted to admit.
The sun was low in the sky after another warm day, the light blue just about ready to change its colours.
“Who would have ever thought rubber gloves could be so sexy?” Nick mulled, leaning his arms around me, enclosing me in between the island and his body. He kept an inch of space between us but I could feel his warmth everywhere as his breath tickled the back of my neck.
“Oh, I don’t know,” I said with a grin. “I would have thought this sound was plenty sexy,” I added, pulling on the glove and letting it snap back against my skin.
“Mmm, the things you do to me, Ajay Olivier,” Nick returned, nuzzling my neck as his body pressed up to mine. I dropped the saucepan into the water, arching my neck to give him better access as his hand snaked under my t-shirt, pulling me taut against him. “I want to do dirty, dirty things to you.”
“Please tell me what could be dirtier than what you did to me last night?” I returned, a little more breathless than I would have liked.
“You liked that did you?” he chuffed, still teasing me with his mouth as he sucked on my neck. “You liked me marking your body as mine? Masking you in my scent?”
“Maybe,” I rasped, not ignoring the way his mouth curved up into a smile against my neck.
“Maybe I’ll let you do that to me,” he returned, biting down and making me moan. “You want that?”
“Yes. Yes I want that,” I panted, dropping my head on his shoulder as his hands traced my skin, teasing me lower as he palmed the front of my shorts.
“Then finish with that saucepan and I’ll let you come upstairs and paint me,” he returned, nipping on my neck.
“You want me to finish the saucepan first?” I grimaced. “What kind of sadist are you?”
“The kind that loves watching you squirm,” he returned, tightening his grip on me.
“You’re just going to stand there like that are you? While I finish the saucepan?”
“Yep. Don’t want you forgetting exactly what I want from you. And I want your paintbrush ready to go.”
