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She studies my eyes, then nods slowly. “I feel it too.” She looks at the door, maybe hoping Trent will come back.

“I just love him so much, Logan. I thought it might go away when he left me but having him here just opens this whole new dimension. And then there’s you—I know we’ve only just met, but I feel this connection I can’t explain. ”

“I get it. And I’m right there with you.” I think we all feel it—all three of us. That’s surely why Trent ran. “I should go after him.”

I expect her to argue, to say she should do it herself. “You’re right,” she says softly. “I think he’ll want to talk with you privately first.”

“Were you surprised he took off like that?”

“No.” She says it with no hesitation. “Even though he kissed you, I think it surprised him.” There’s that pretty pink blush again. “It surprised me a little, too.”

“Yeah?”

“Not in a bad way.” She’s nibbling her lip again. “His family’s not very supportive of…well, they call it ‘that lifestyle.’ Like someone choosing to live in a city instead of a town.” She scoffs and a little relief rolls through me. “Both of our families believe who you love is a choice.”

“Do you?”

“No.” She looks in my eyes and my heart sparks a fire. “Wouldn’t life be easier if it were?”

“Maybe.”

She lets out a shuddery breath but doesn’t say anything more.

“Okay.” Cupping her cheek in a palm, I brush my lips over hers. I’m trying to give her a soft, friendly kiss.

But Sara clings to my neck, kissing me deeply with her tongue brushing mine. It goes on a lot longer than I was expecting and by the time I pull back, my dick’s hard again.

“Go,” she says softly, nudging me back. “See if you can talk some sense into him. ”

“I will.”

I get dressed in silence, replaying her words in my mind.

Talk some sense into him.

I still haven’t decided what’s sensible here as I tuck in my shirt and walk to the door. Sara’s beside me, nibbling her lip as I reach for the knob. She touches my hand with a meaningful look in her eyes.

“Logan?”

“Yeah?”

“I know Trent. He’ll be hating himself pretty hard right now,” she says softly. “Don’t let him beat himself up.”

Nodding, I open the door. “I’ll do my best.”

It takes me a while to find Trent. He’s not in his room and not hunkered down at any of the bars.

I finally spot him a mile down the beach. It’s only dumb luck that led me this way to a thick thatch of palm trees near the edge of the water. He’s stripped to his boxers, dark hair dripping rivers of water down his broad chest.

He looks wretched and lost, like an angel shot down with a dart and plunged into the sea. His head doesn’t lift as I approach, but I know he senses me coming. I see it in the set of his shoulders, in the raggedy way he draws a deep breath.

“You found me.” His voice sounds raspy, like he’s been screaming.

“You went for a swim?”

“Yep.” He sits with his knees bent in front of him, glistening forearms folded on top. “My mom always accused me of being half fish. Guess it figures I’d become a SEAL.”

It’s the opening I’ve spent the last fifty minutes hoping for. “You’re close with your mom? ”

“Yeah.” He lets out a long, shaky breath. “She hasn’t had it easy. I’ve tried to protect her, but?—”

“From your dad?”

“Yeah.” He lets out a long, shaky breath. “He’s always been a dick to her—to everyone, really—but it rarely got physical. I’ve done what I could to keep him away from her, but she’ll never divorce him.”

“It’s a hard cycle to break.” My mom works with victims of domestic abuse, so I get it. “Is it mostly that divorce is a sin?”

“That’s the biggest thing, yeah.” He sighs and squeezes his eyes shut. “One of many sins in their book.”

And there we go. I sit down beside him, stretching my legs in the sand out in front of us. “You said your parents didn’t react well to your cousin coming out.”

Trent’s shoulders stiffen. Slowly, he turns to face me. “I’m not gay.”

“Didn’t say you were.” He’s already bristly, so fuck it. “But you don’t kiss like a straight guy. I should know, I’ve kissed several.”

“Fuck you.” There’s no venom in the words. He looks almost resigned, like we’re discussing the weather. “How’s Sara?”

“Not thrilled you ran off like you did.”

“Fuck.” He squeezes his eyes shut, then opens them again. “I’m such an asshole. She deserves better.”

“Maybe.”

“I love her so fucking much.”

“I know.”

“I want to do better. I just—” He drags a hand through his hair, raining speckles of water on his muscular legs.

One droplet lands on my thigh and a pulse of electricity zings up my leg.

“Sorry,” he mutters.

“For flicking me with water or kissing me?” I’m not mad about either. “Or running out like you did? ”

“The last one,” he mutters, looking down at his knees. “Is Sara freaking out?”

“She’s worried about you.” The last thing she said as I walked out the door was don’t let him beat himself up.

But maybe I got here too late. He’s well on his way to kicking his own ass. “Look, man.” What can I say that will make him feel better? “I’ve fucked hundreds of women.”

Trent looks up sharply. “Is this supposed to be helping?”

“Zip it, Frogman.” Where was I going with that? He looks down again, which makes it a little bit easier to keep going. “I’d probably slept with several dozen by the time I had sex with a man the first time.”

He doesn’t respond, but he’s listening. I can tell by the way he goes utterly still. “I’ll admit it,” I continue. “The first time it happened, I got kinda weird about it. Like, what does this mean , how does this change things, how will this alter the course of my life ?”

Trent meets my eyes again. “Did it? Change things, I mean.”

“Of course. I’d be bullshitting you if I said otherwise.”

“Great,” he mutters, scuffing his heels in the sand. “Just what I’ve been trying to avoid.”

“Why?”

He frowns and looks up at me. “What the fuck do you mean why ?”

I ponder the right thing to say. “It didn’t make my life worse . It gave me more options. Sometimes I feel like sleeping with women, and sometimes?—”

“Yeah, I got it.” Clearly the man isn’t comfortable spelling it out. “You make it sound like a choice between hot dogs for dinner or a ham sandwich.” He winces. “I did not think through that metaphor.”

Laughing, I jab him with an elbow. “It’s a fucking simile, dumbass.”

“Thanks, Jarhead.”

“No problem, Frogman.” We sit there in silence a while. I’m sensing that Trent isn’t ready for big conversations. Whatever this means for his future, it can wait.

“Trent?”

“Yeah?”

“Will you tell me something?”

“Yeah.” He sounds a bit wary, but nods. “Sure.”

“Did you like hooking up with Scott Heath?”

He doesn’t respond right away. He takes a few breaths, like he’s preparing to plunge into the sea. “Yeah,” he says roughly, so quiet I almost don’t hear him. “I did.”

For some reason that feels like a triumph. Like a big fucking bombshell he’s dropped on this beach. Might as well dive into the sea. “Did you like kissing me?”

When he doesn’t respond, I feel like a dick. I pushed him too hard, too quickly, too soon after it happened.

Then his gaze snaps to mine and my blood starts to thicken. Those weird golden eyes stare deep in my soul and I swear I forget how to breathe.

“I fucking loved it.”

Something uncoils in my chest. “So did I.”

“Fuck.” He sounds less dejected this time. “Woulda been better if I hated it. This was my chance to get it out of my system.”

“Didn’t work that way, huh?”

“Nope.” One edge of his mouth quirks. “Guess I get it now, why you’re such a hot ticket in the app.”

I chuckle and anchor my heels in the sand. “You’ve barely glimpsed what I’m capable of.” That sounds cocky, but it’s true. “I take pride in my work.”

“Clearly.” He’s quiet a moment. “You ever get tired of it?”

“Being a consort?” I start to say no, then stop myself. “If you’d asked me a week ago, I’d have laughed in your face. Get tired of having sex with beautiful, eager women and being paid insanely well for that pleasure? Get real.”

“Sounds like a rough life. ”

“Yeah, well…” I chuckle again. “It has its perks.”

“Did something change?”

How honest should I be here? “Ever since you and Sara showed up, I’ve felt restless. Not in a bad way. Just—thinking more about the future.”

“Funny.” Trent’s chuckle is dry and self-deprecating. “Ever since I showed up here, I’ve been thinking of everything but the future.”

“We all have our journey.” When his gaze shifts to mine, I decide to press my luck. “If you’re not thinking about the future, what are you thinking about?”

He looks at my face a long time. When his eyes drop to my mouth, I know I’ve got him.

“Kissing you again,” he says softly. “Maybe more than just kissing.”

Heat swells inside me as I study his face to make sure I didn’t misread him. Invitation sparks in those strange golden eyes, and I fucking accept.

“Then let’s do it.” It’s my turn to move first. I go slowly at first, almost afraid that I’ll scare him away.

When our mouths touch this time, we’re both braced for it. But even expecting this sharp, sudden contact, I’m not prepared for the spark. For the contrast of softness and steel, the slide of his hand at the back of my neck.

Trent’s tongue sweeps mine and I stifle a moan. His skin is still wet as my hands drag the granitelike planes of his back. He’s muscle and sinew, fire and salt and heat. We kiss for a long fucking time, like there’s no place on Earth we need to be.

Things spiral from there, which shouldn’t surprise me.

The kiss grows more urgent and needy. He snatches my shirt in a fist, shoving it up to the top of my pecs.

A feral growl builds in his throat, vibrating the spot where I’m kissing him now.

His palm skates my chest, exploring this new exposed flesh.

I grab hold of his ass, squeezing so hard he’ll probably have bruises tomorrow .

Trent does me one better, bumping a hand down my abs to grab hold of my cock through my clothes. He’s stroking me roughly, and for the first time in ages, there’s a risk I might come in my shorts.

“Fuck.” He pulls in a breath like a man coming up from the bottom of the sea. “Not now. Not here.” He’s wild-eyed and breathless; so fucking sexy I almost can’t breathe.

But Trent’s got his mind somewhere else. “I need to see Sara,” he pants. “To tell her I’m sorry and how bad I want her. Maybe more than I did with all this stuff bottled up like it’s been. I need her to know how much I love her but I also want you and?—”

“She knows.”

We both whip around at the sound of her voice. Sara stands barefoot, holding her shoes in one hand. She’s wearing a navy-blue sundress that floats to her ankles. No makeup, and from what I can tell, no bra. Her hair is pulled back in a ponytail, making her look unbearably young.

But she stares down at us like a self-assured woman. Like a goddess or girl Viking or some supernatural sex sprite.

Like a woman who knows what she wants.

“Sara.” Trent’s frozen with his hand on my hip. Two inches more and he’s touching my dick again. “I can explain.”

“No, Trent. I don’t want you to explain.” Dropping her sandals, she crosses her arms. She’s staring down darkly with a look I can’t read. “Here’s what I want you to do.”