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We? Oh, hell no.
Ava’s question mirrored his thoughts. “Where are we going to get one of those on a Sunday night out here? There are literally no shopping centres in a twenty-k radius and none of them would stay open this late anyway.”
“Right there.” Bryce pointed to the rotunda at the end of the markets, a dozen stalls past where she’d bought the eggnog. Cole could see Santa sitting on a throne under harsh fluorescent lights wearing a red coat with no arms and a beanie. It wasn’t until he stood to shake the hand of someone getting a photo that Cole saw the lime green boardies he’d paired the outfit with. No doubt he’d be wearing thongs too. Gum trees formed the background to the photo, and a surfboard leaning up against a post gave an unmistakeably Aussie feel to the whole scene. An Esky sat at his feet, and camping chairs with beach towels hanging over the armrests surrounded Santa’s seat. Shit.
“You’re kidding, right?” Cole asked warily.
“Oh, smile for once in your life, Mr Party Pooper,” Ava chastised him. “Bryce wants to take a photo.”
He didn’t want to diss Bryce. It was cool if he wanted a photo. As long as the “we” he’d referred to didn’t include him, it was fine. “I mean—”
“With both of you too.”Well, there goes that hope.Bryce grinned like a kid at… Christmas and dashed off to stand in the line.
“I hate photos,” Cole muttered, protesting, but he couldn’t help following Ava as she joined Bryce in the line. The bloody puppy dog was getting to him, and Ava’s enthusiasm to make him happy wasn’t irritating like he’d expected it to be but endearing.
He paid for their photo to be printed, deciding on the spur of the moment to get it in triplicate, and lingered, waiting for Ava and Bryce to sit with Santa.
Apparently, Bryce wasn’t having it. He was on his feet in a flash, coming at Cole like the battering ram he was. But instead of knocking him down, Cole was in the air, being picked up like a damn bride. He struggled, squirming so Bryce would let him go and groused, “Put me down, you dumb-arse.”
“Hush,” Bryce ordered, his muscles bulging as he carried him and sat down on the Esky.
Cole’s protest caught in his throat as Bryce held him tight and Ava leaned over, laughing as she said, “You aren’t getting out of it that easily.” She ruffled his hair as Bryce poked his tongue out with a shit-eating grin. Cole couldn’t help his snort of laughter.
The flash went off and the photographer called, “Say ‘Merry Christmas!’”
Bugger it. If they were all taking what they wanted, he would too. Ava smiled and squeaked when he wrapped his arm around her nape, tugging her down to meet his lips. She froze and his hold relaxed, making sure she could pull away. Cole held his breath, her pheromones sending his into a tailspin. Bloody hell, she smelled so good—they both did. A mix of something fresh and sweet mixed with a citrus scent that Cole couldn’t get enough of.
She relaxed into his hold and Cole kissed her properly, his tongue sliding against hers. Her lips were pillowy soft. His were demanding. She was confident and he was unyielding. Ava slid her fingers into his hair and Bryce adjusted his hold, pulling him tighter. The dude was sporting one hell of a boner. Cole moaned, picturing just how gorgeous he’d be naked. Both of them would be. He thrust his tongue in deeper, tasting Ava’s mouth. Her moan in response was quiet but it seemed to echo over their suddenly silent surrounds.
Cole blinked open his eyes, realizing exactly where they were and what he’d done. Fuck.
He leapt up and staggered away, rushing as far from them as he could go in the darkness that beckoned.
It wasn’t long before trees blocked his path, the crisscross roots of the mangroves that grew along the riverbank like an impenetrable fortress. Hands on his knees trying not to puke, Cole wished he hadn’t been as impulsive. As reckless.
What the hell was he thinking? He shouldn’t have kissed her. He’d wanted to, but he should have stayed out of it. Ava and Bryce were better for each other. She smiled when Bryce did. She held his hand and blushed when he teased her. They laughed together and talked non-stop. He was like the dark shadow that dimmed their happy. The black hole that sucked the life out of them.
He felt Bryce’s presence before he saw him. Cole waited on tenterhooks, unsure of how he would react.
A gentle hand on his shoulder wasn’t what he expected. Cole straightened, meeting Bryce’s gaze. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, ashamed that he’d probably ruined the night.
“For what?” Bryce asked, his head tilted to the side, curious.
“For everything. I shouldn’t have kissed Ava—”
Bryce barked out a laugh. “You need to apologize to her for that, but Ava seemed pretty into it to me.”
“But you and her….”
“Are no different to you and her.” Cole shook his head, and Bryce’s grin turned wicked. His gaze fell, taking in every inch of Cole, slowly perusing him like he was eating him up. Heat flashed through him and his knees wobbled. Bryce was potent and the rasp in his voice had Cole’s cock thickening.
A twig snapped behind him and Cole turned, seeing Ava with all their bags. “Shit,” he muttered, racing over to her, and relieving her of half of them.
“Let me,” Bryce implored, taking the rest. “You can carry the whiskey. I think we might need it.”
*****
The door clicked closed behind them as he toed out of his loafers while Ava went for her laptop. Bryce placed the bags he was carrying down by the sideboard. When Cole made his way there, depositing his own, he saw that Ava had made herself comfortable. Lounging in the middle of the bed, she was a sweet temptation.
