Chad chuckled, and forced his attention down to his phone, wanting coherent conversation to replace the rambling jumble of his thoughts.
“Did you end up with any of them?” Ducky asked.
“No way. I kicked everybody out at two. I thought you’d hooked up and gone to bed, but I was too tired. I sort of picked up the mess then crashed.” His hand shot over his shoulder toward the living room, veranda, and beach. “I got the bottles and cans up. That’s about it.”
“There’s a housekeeper included,” Ducky reminded him, lifting his coffee cup to take a small sip. “What’re you doing?” he asked with a nod toward Chad’s cell.
Chad let out a sigh and stopped pretending to do anything more than drink Ducky in. “We can hit this private lesson for surfing if you want. If we go now, we could get a bite to eat before the lesson.”
“Surfing,” Ducky said, showing no emotion or physical cue to let Chad know what he thought. “Do you want to?”
“If you do.” A moment of apparent indecision happened before Ducky pushed off the counter, his cup in hand, and started back for his bedroom.
“Yeah. Let’s go.”
CHAPTER 14
Three days later
The sun beat down on Ducky, the warmth already drying his wet skin as he pulled himself from the water. Today’s activity came by way of a hike. A place Chad found. One point nine miles that ended in a waterfall. The cliffs of the lush green mountain range were the perfect angles to dive from. Swimming under the falls added to the tranquility. Nature’s natural rhythmic meditation filled his soul with calm.
The peace he’d found in all these outdoor activities Chad kept dragging him to had begun to fill the void inside him. Ducky could breathe here. His crowded thoughts disappeared. How had he never known how much he enjoyed outdoor physical activity?
Instead of getting lost on any one problem, Ducky dropped his T-shirt on the rock and lay back on the small edge of the cliff, closing his eyes against the sun.
“Pale skin needs sunscreen,” Chad called from the water and expertly clapped a splash of water, sending the spray over Ducky’s entire body. He didn’t even care or budge a single muscle. All he could do was grin. His fair skin had been a source of teasing since the first time they went surfing, and he had regularly sprayed his exposed skin with sunscreen.
Little did he know such a natural safety precaution could result in days of ridicule. Chad beat his brothers in the expert level of dishing out trash talk. The two of them were becoming as close as brothers.
Something anxiety-filled rejected the notion. He shoved those feelings aside, deciding days ago he’d take what he could get from Chad. He owed Chad. More now than any other time before. This trip gave him a sense of normalcy. A new normal, allowing for the experiences and growth he’d had over the last few years while still really feeling at peace with himself.
He lifted his arm, raising his middle finger to Chad by way of an answer. Chad’s bark of laughter had Ducky’s grin growing wider. The larger splash of water that came next was Chad’s answer to his crude action. What he didn’t expect was Chad’s burst from the water, using the ledge to pull himself up. Dripping water spilled across the rocky edge, saturating Ducky. He ducked out of the way while throwing out a hand, knocking Chad’s hard chest. The hit was just enough to have Chad lose his hold on the edge and fall back into the water.
The resultingoomphhad Ducky instantly looking over the side to see for himself as Chad hit the water with a hard splash.
He didn’t know his own strength and wanted to high five himself for such a great move.
“Hey,” Chad said, spitting and sputtering once his head popped up from the water. Another hand splash followed, this one with more force. Ducky could only assume Chad was master-level skilled at sending the most amount of water splashing forward with the least amount of hand effort.
The retaliation came so fast with such force it caught Ducky off guard. A wave of water landed in his open eyes, the force pushing him backward. He landed on his ass and back as Chad leaped up, easily climbing the ledge to stand over Ducky. All the water cascading off him in pools, landed on Ducky, soaking him and all their belongings thoroughly.
“Your shoes are wet. It’s gonna suck to walk back in those,” Chad teased in a menacing tone. Ducky barely held on to his urge to shove Chad off the ledge again. Instead, he lay back as if he didn’t have a care in the world, closing his eyes. Even tossing a dismissive arm over his eyes for good measure.
“Those are your shoes. Mine are on the ledge above.” Ducky tried to hide his smile—Lord knew he did—but he couldn’t hold the indifference. He grinned, completely unprepared for Chad’s next move. He felt the sprinkle of water before Chad’s body came down on top of his. Wet, hard, and dominating. Chad pinned him down like a pro. A move Ducky had no question came from WWE. Chad straddled his waist and jerked both his hands above his head, shaking his wet hair and upper chest into Ducky’s face.
Instinctually, Ducky’s body hardened and hummed. His cock grew stiff in seconds flat. All he could do was squint against the sun, hoping to dispel the droplets while still taking in everything about this moment. This was what it would look like to have Chad moving over him.
His chest heaved, finding it hard to catch his breath. He had to fight the urge to lift his hips and rut against his best friend. Chad’s weight above him, pressing him down felt too good.
“Give. I win,” Chad goaded.
The longing in his heart finally subsided enough to let oxygen enter his lungs. Lucky, since his vision had started to blur. His hopes collided with reality.
What the fuck was happening? Of course, he didn’t try to fight Chad. Not until Chad shifted slightly, coming within inches of his rigid cock. Fear made him panic. How could Chad understand his hard-on?
The anxiety of ruining their friendship gave Ducky more strength than he ever thought possible. He busted a move, easily dislodging Chad’s hold on his hands while causing him to fall forward. Chad’s chest fell into his face. The skin to skin contact set the neurons in his brain into overdrive. But Chad wasn’t the only one who’d religiously watched WWE in his youth. Ducky called forward his John Cena days. He had to move Chad off him without hurting either one of them.
Ducky spun. Chad’s now-wet towel cushioned the fall. Chad’s muscular legs locked around his waist as he changed their position and looked down on his friend. Fuck, this angle wasn’t any better.
