“You made it easier,” Ducky murmured when Chad broke away to take a breath. “Thank you.”
“The pleasure is mine. I finally got what I wanted,” Chad said. “We’re in this together now.”
Ducky took him into a hug. The only outside world interference that could have penetrated this moment was the loud, shrill ringtone Chad had assigned his sister, Chloe. A binging buzz that grated over every one of his nerves just the way her voice did. Ducky looked away, toward the villa, trying to place what made such an annoying clatter.
“Ignore it. It’s Chloe.” The ring ended only to begin again.
“What’s that awful noise?” Both he and Ducky jerked their heads around to see Felicia and Ava trudging through the sand, close to the villa.
He’d meant to cancel their gathering tonight. Ducky stood to his full height but seemed as reluctant to end their embrace as Chad.
When the ringtone ended only to begin again for the third time, Chad finally let go of Ducky, turning toward the villa. “Goddammit. I’ll be right back.”
“Hey,” Felicia said. Ava mimicked her friend in a much more sedate voice. Ducky didn’t turn away from watching Chad’s retreating body until he disappeared through the doorway and could no longer be seen. The haze of their confessed love drowned away everything else around him. His eyes searched the open door, hoping Chad would reappear as the lifesaver he clung to.
Chad loved him. Tingles raced head to toe over his body as his chin hit his chest. He reveled in all the special feels, his body giving a full-length shiver even under the warmth of the day. Nothing had ever felt so right in his life. A true balance settled over him. Something new and complete, satisfying and cherished.
In the back of his mind, the dark place created by years of being told he wasn’t good enough by his father and oldest brother made him question everything. With all the self-lecturing he’d done for the length of this trip, feeling inadequate in every way to Chad, he couldn’t let it go until right this very minute. He wondered if Dallas had these same feelings when he settled down and accepted Greer as his partner?
What a fucking turn-on to be wanted as you were.
“He’s mad at us,” Felicia said loud enough to infiltrate Ducky’s focus. “It’s not fair, Ducky. I didn’t know you were into guys.”
“It makes sense though.” The way Ava said the words caused Ducky to look over at her. Her hands, one holding a cell phone, lifted in a surrender as if she had offended him. “Everyone kept hitting on you and you never bit. That’s all I’m saying, I promise. We’re all sad you’re gay.”
“Yeah. We didn’t know.” Felicia stepped closer to the railing next to Ducky. “Apparently no one knew. You’re good at hiding. You should’ve put us out of our misery.”
Ava playfully slapped at his arm, coming to stand on his other side. “Why didn’t you tell us Chad’s dad owns Wilder. I feel like that was something we needed to know.”
“I’m not in the gamer world but how didn’t I remember Chad as the guy who dragged you hard after that award show?” Felicia added.
Ducky’s eyes narrowed. His entire focus tuned into Ava’s words. His head swiveled in her direction. He was having a hard time thinking beyond Chad but couldn’t remember anything said to tip Chad’s hand. “How do you know that?”
Shit. His question was barely out when dread filled the deepest recesses of his mind. That said a lot, Chad had embedded himself in all of Ducky’s thoughts.
“My video’s been viewed and shared two hundred forty thousand times on Secret. It’s gone everywhere,” Felicia answered cryptically with a sheepish grin.
Fuck!It all made sense.
Chad came through the back door, his troubled stare riveted on Ducky though he held his phone raised in his hand. Chloe’s voice spoke about a mile a minute on a video call. He’d heard both Chad’s sisters talking in the background many times over the years. Chloe had never sounded so frantic before. “Mom and Dad have both been trying to get a hold of you. The video’s the number one post on Secret since it posted last night. Everybody knows who Ducky is because of the ad campaign. It took about an hour for the users to figure out that Ducky was kissing you. That drew Wilder into the mix too. It exploded from there.”
“It’s the number one video on Secret?” Felicia gasped excitedly. All the sorrow she pretended to have vanished into thin air. She gave a happy little giggle before bringing her phone forward, working her thumbs furiously over the screen. “I put it on TikTok too.”
“Is it a real kiss, Chad?” Chloe asked. Ducky couldn’t tell by her tone what she thought of the idea. Chad came to stand directly in front of Ducky, lowering the phone between them where he could see Chloe as the primary caller, but Cate was bent over Chloe’s shoulder. Cate and Chad had always been the two closer siblings.
“Chad, you don’t have to answer that,” Cate called out, bending closer to the screen, reaching for Chloe’s phone. “Is that Ducky with you?”
“What?” Chloe shrieked, moving the phone out of Cate’s reach. Neither of the sisters were now on screen. “He does too have to answer that. I wanna know.” He couldn’t see much except there seemed to be a struggle for the phone. These two accomplished young women were now in a row for the cell phone, reverting to that unique place where siblings fought regardless of the situation.
“No matter what you think, Chad’s allowed to have his privacy,” Cate reprimanded.
“Our brother’s possibly bisexual. It’s kind of important to know,” Chloe countered as if Cate was the dumbest person on the planet.
“It’s none of your business,” Cate said. This time, when she reached for the phone, she managed to pluck it from Chloe’s hand.
Cate darted away, the phone capturing video of the walls, floor, and ceiling before a door slammed, plunging the video into darkness. Chloe’s outrage became muted at the same time as a light came on and Cate’s face reappeared on the screen.
“I’m sorry about her. I tried to call you several times since last night to warn you. The video went viral on Secret and on StreamTrainer’s platform. You were live streamed with you two kissing pretty hot and heavy then leaving together. Dad didn’t see the post until this morning. Somehow Mom and Tristan both knew about you and Ducky before Dad. I think his feelings were hurt.”
