Chad of all people. A deep disgruntled sigh escaped.
He hadn’t thought this out properly. He was going to be in a state of needy arousal the entire trip. This wasn’t going to be a relaxing vacation. Instead, it would be a torturous lesson in self-control. He rolled his eyes and looked at the ocean in search of his friend. Chad called for him, beckoning him to the water. He had to do better at controlling his desire and ignore this all-consuming physical reaction anytime Chad was around. If not, he’d ruin everything between them.
“Get your ass in here!”
He was shit to do anything more than start down the ramp toward Chad.
“There’s no way we’re going to eat and drink all this,” Ducky said, watching Chad add a variety of tropical fruits to the buggy already overfilled with a solid bottom layer of every kind of beer, wine, and liquor available in the store. The middle layer contained meat. Chicken, beef, pork, and fish. The top had a variety of vegetables and fruits balanced precariously. Chad handpicked every item with care, proclaiming his love of food and apparent love of cooking. Who knew Chad was a master griller in addition to all his other great qualities?
“See? Smell this right here.” Chad extended a melon over the cart toward Ducky’s nose. “I bet it’s perfect. You can smell the sweetness.”
Ducky hid the grin and leaned in. When his brow turned quizzical, only smelling the peel, Chad adjusted the melon. He did in fact smell the ripeness. His brows lifted and he nodded. “Is that why you sniff around all these fruits?”
Chad placed the melon inside the basket and gathered two more as he answered. “Lots of ’em you can judge that way, but not all.”
Chad tossed limes Ducky’s way, laughing as Ducky scrambled to catch the airborne projectiles. He was ashamed to say several hit the floor because he was absolute shit at intercepting any of them.
“Papaya. Cool, here.” A fruit the size of an oblong coconut was tossed at him next. He barely had it in his hands when Chad grabbed the end of the cart, and off they went toward the front of the store. His energy was boundless, always positive, and ready to get things done. Ducky trailed behind him, temporarily distracted by a shelf full of pre-baked cookies. It felt like forever since he tasted a cookie, and at the moment, the macadamia ones called to him.
A whistle caught his attention. Chad tossed a hand in the air, moving the groceries to a belt at checkout. “Those have carbs.”
Carbs. How he loved carbs…
Ducky’s grin was immediate. He grabbed two bags. The macadamia ones and another bag of a different flavor. For good measure, he grabbed a third one and started for Chad.
“Outside of the hamburger bun and french fries we ate, I haven’t had a processed carb in months.” He let the fruit and cookies drop onto the belt and grabbed a box of candy—looked like Skittles—and tossed them on the belt too. Maybe with a little more determination than necessary with the way Chad barked out a laugh.
“Do I need to rethink these meals?” Chad and the cashier stopped what they were doing, both looking blankly at him, waiting for his answer. The humor of the situation didn’t go unnoticed. Ducky decided to add to the snacks. He grabbed two boxes of peanut M&M’s and set them next to about half a dozen snickers that he’d knocked onto the belt with his free hand.
“No, keep going. I’m good.”
“He’s good,” Chad parroted, turning back to the cashier. She gave a throaty laugh and continued to move items over the sensor, scanning the barcodes for the groceries.
“Seems so.” She did that thing that both women and men alike did with Chad—take an instant like to him. He swore that Chad could draw a monk with a vow of silence into a lengthy conversation. He charmed everyone. “You two planning to set the island on fire?”
Chad gave an almost silent laugh and reached for his wallet. “I saw a brochure for a submarine scooter adventure. Recommend that?”
“Men like yourselves; I see you more as cage-free shark divers.” Even though her tone was teasing, the alarm of such an adventure caught all of Ducky’s attention.
“Where’s that at? On the island?” Chad asked.
“Wait, what?” Ducky stepped in closer as Chad moved the cart around for the cashier to scan the drinks. Her cackle told him she’d hit her mark with the suggestion.
“I figure you’re the daredevil.” She nodded toward Chad. “And you’re the quieter one. I suspect the more dangerous of the two…” She trailed off with a raised brow.
Now Chad barked out a loud laugh. “We should give shark diving a try.”
Ducky refused to be swayed just in case Chad was serious. “Did you say cage-free? I feel like I’m out on that one. I’ll watch from the boat, or I don’t even have to go.”
None of the humor had left Chad’s face as he nodded and handed over his credit card to the cashier. Ducky was so lost in the sudden fear of diving into a school of sharks that he didn’t even think to try to cover half the cost of their groceries. Shark diving. Oh man. Besides his always ready to plump cock, now he had to consider Chad’s fearless athleticism.
He bet Chad could charm a great white shark into not biting him. Ducky, on the other hand, would be dinner, straight-up chum from the minute he hit the water.
CHAPTER 12
The skills he’d learned camping with his father came in handy. Chad impressed himself by setting up a fire pit on the beach. He’d even used a rotisserie he’d found in the villa to grill their chicken for dinner. It worked out well enough, at least so far. Which was good since he’d made a big production of being the grill master for the trip.
Chad squatted down on his feet by the pit, balancing there as his toes dug into the sand. He rotated the corn on the cob lying on the outer edge of the rack. He had coated those with a good smattering of seasoned butter as he thought about all the showing off he’d been doing since seeing Ducky at the airport that morning.
