Page 30 of Free Wind (Lifeguards of Barking Beach #2)

“C’mere.” He pulled Damo to his feet and kissed him deeply, tasting himself and reaching into Damo’s shorts to work his hard dick.

Damo had to be aching, his cock straining and leaking in Blake’s hand. With a few hard tugs, he came, moaning and jerking, splashing Blake’s bare stomach. He wrapped Damo in his arms, taking his weight and stroking his spine, murmuring praise.

“Was it really good?” Damo mumbled hotly against Blake’s neck.

“I couldn’t fake that. Was it good for you?”

Damo nodded against him. “I was pretty sure, but that seals the deal. Sucking cock is awesome, hey?”

“Hell yes.”

After an easy silence as they caught their breath, Damo asked, “Have you dated a bi bloke before?”

Was that the first time Damo had referred to himself as bi? Blake smiled at the thought.

Damo’s brows met. “We are, right? Dating?”

“Yes! Sorry, got distracted. We definitely are. And I hooked up with a bi guy in uni before I met Lance but haven’t properly dated anyone bi or pan.”

Damo lifted his head from Blake’s shoulder, his blue eyes serious. “’Till now?”

“’Till now.”

They kissed and kissed until Damo reluctantly left. At least, it had seemed reluctant? Yeah, course it was. Damo wasn’t pretending to not be able to stay. As eager as Blake was to understand what was going on with Damo’s family, he had to be patient.

Still, as he tried to relax on the couch and watch mindless TV, he kept thinking about the way Damo tensed and frowned and took on a…heaviness when he had to go home.

Blake was dying to help. Surely there was something he could do? If he could lend a hand, he could smooth away that strain and ease the pressure. What good was he if he couldn’t do that?

His phone pinged, and his heart leapt to see a text from Cooper:

Do you play Mortal Chronicles?

Blake looked it up, downloaded it, and replied: Yep! Want to play sometime?

Well, at least learning the game as fast as possible would keep him busy for the rest of the evening. He read and reread Cooper’s single letter response—the letter K—and grinned like a fool.

He had a son.

And before he could talk himself out of it, he was ringing his mum. How could he wait any longer before telling his parents they had another grandchild? They’d be thrilled, and he had to share his joy with them.

He paced eagerly, imagining their delighted smiles. When Mum picked up the video call, her brow was furrowed.

“Blakey? You right?”

He laughed. “Yes! Everything’s good. Fantastic, even. Magnificent. Tremendous.” He heard Damo’s voice saying those were ten-dollar words and grinned.

Mum was sitting on the brown leather couch in their apartment behind the pub. It was after closing time, and she was in one of her floral short-sleeved nighties.

The camera angle was low, but at least her face was visible. Behind her, the framed print Blake had bought them at the Pro Hart gallery in Broken Hill hung on the beige wall.

It was called “Mining Town Sunday,” painted in earth tones depicting squat wooden buildings and tall, dry trees with spindly-legged townspeople playing and talking. It always made Blake feel good to see his gift hung proudly.

The murmur of the TV was silenced, and Dad squeezed into frame. He wore a white singlet. “Are you on drugs?”

Blake’s smile stiffened. “When have you known me to ever do drugs?”

“Ya haven’t, but you’re going out to those nightclubs. We know what happens there. All sorts.”

He didn’t ask whether Dad meant nightclubs in general or queer ones specifically and forced a laugh. “Not sure the last time you two went clubbing, but again, I don’t do drugs. I wanted to tell you some good news.”

Mum’s lined face lit up. “You’re moving back home!”

Blake was stunned into silence. She couldn’t really think that? They’d gone over it so many times. He blinked. “I… What? Why would you think that?”

Mum still beamed. “We need you here, Blakey.” She wasn’t joking. He could tell when she was.

His stomach dropped. “Why? Are you sick?”

“You know we have our aches and pains, and your father won’t listen to the doctor even—”

“But you’re not having any stroke symptoms?” He exhaled.

“No, love.” Mum’s smile was strained. “You know that wasn’t the only reason we needed you home.”

“I know,” he said automatically. “But you’re doing great without me.” The last thing he wanted was to be drawn into that debate again. “No, I’m not moving home.”

Their faces fell, and while part of Blake felt guilty—a bigger part had him clenching his fists, his phone in a death grip. How many times did he need to say that he’d left Blinman and wasn’t going back?

He should’ve been excitedly telling them about Cooper and Damo. Sharing the two new people in his life who’d turned it upside-down in the most wonderful way.

His joy had faded—the bright, vivid rainbow colors of his eagerness muted to drab grays.

“We just miss you, son,” Dad said. “You’re such a help around the place.”

Blake battled between a rush of pride and satisfaction and frustration that his parents knew how drawn he was to helping people—and they used that to guilt-trip him.

“Do you ever ask Adam or Richie to come back?” He knew his sister, Ella, had gotten her fair share of guilt trips when she’d moved to Adelaide. His older brothers had been gone for years, though.

Mum frowned and said, “They’re in Queensland,” as if he didn’t know that. She laughed. “Don’t reckon Heather or Julia would fancy Blinman.”

Dad scoffed. “No way Julia would leave Brissie.”

Blake clenched his jaw. His father always said her name with a hint of distain even though Blake’s sister-in-law was lovely. He’d asked more than once what the issue was, and Dad had always insisted there was nothing. Blake suspected it was simply that she was a lawyer.

“And Ella’s settled in Adelaide now with Griff and the baby,” Blake said.

Mum sighed. “Yes. But there’s no reason you can’t come home!”

“Because I’m single? What if I wasn’t?”

Ah, and there was that painful mix of discomfort and embarrassment with a hint of panic. Blake hadn’t subjected Lance to a trip to Blinman, and his parents had always been too busy with the pub to visit him at uni in Melbourne. They hadn’t even attended his commencement ceremony.

Awkwardly, Mum tried to laugh. “All right, so you’re not coming home. Can’t blame us for tryin’! Love, did I tell you what happened on Friday?”

“Oh, you won’t believe it!” Dad said too eagerly.

Anything to avoid talking about the mere possibility that Blake could have a boyfriend. A partner. He’d told them after his first year in uni that he was gay, and after their initial disbelief and Mum’s tears, it had been like this. They simply avoided the topic at all costs.

He nodded and listened to Mum go on about the ringers from the local sheep station getting up to no good, then said, “I have to be up early for work. Talk to you later.” He forced a smile and disconnected.

They hadn’t asked about his good news.

Blake wanted to ring Damo and tell him everything, but it wasn’t fair dumping this on him when he had his own stress to deal with. Whatever that was. That Blake didn’t even know was a stark reminder not to get ahead of himself.

Even if he and Damo were properly dating, it was early days. The last thing Blake needed was to go too fast and spoil it.

He could text Kat, but he hadn’t replied to their latest messages yet. In fact, he hadn’t even told them about Cooper. Shit. They had a lot to catch up on, but he wasn’t in the mood to answer a million questions. He was best off getting to bed since his alarm would be blaring far too soon.