Page 62 of When Ben Loved Jace

“Thank you, my dear. Would you care to join me for a glass of champagne? We have an open bar. In fact, feel free to partake of any of the delights you might see while here. Your delight is my desire.”

“I’m ready to hit some water slides,” Tim says eagerly while rubbing his hands together.

“Sounds good to me,” I say, Jace nodding his agreement.

“Are we talkingrealchampagne?” Allison asks. “Or just some wine with bubbles in it.”

“I’ve spared no expense,” Marcello assures her.

“And that fine brother working the bar,” she continues, “is he gay too?”

“I’ve gotten absolutely nowhere with him,” Marcello purrs, “despite my best efforts. Perhaps you can teach me a few tricks. I’ll have him open a fresh bottle and meet you over there.”

Tim introduces Jace to Eric, giving me the opportunity to pull my best friend aside.

“You can’t abandon me!” I hiss.

She rolls her eyes. “I’m here to have fun. You’ll do fine. Just remember which one is your boyfriend. Simple as that.”

“Allison!” I whine. Which usually works. Not this time.

“I’ll catch up with you. If you get too turned on, think about your parents having sex.”

“Gross!”

“Exactly.” She smooches me on the cheek. “See you later.”

Tim guides us to a locker room and waits outside, so we can change. We’re both wearing swim trunks, so all we have to do is take off our shirts and shoes. Once they’re locked up safely, we venture out into the sun again. Tim looks us both over, focusing more on Jace than me.

“Damn, dude! You’ve got a sexy bod. I can see why Benjamin is so hooked.”

Jace ignores the compliment. “Marcello is quite the character. Is he always like that?”

“With most people, yeah.” Tim makes a face. “You’ll notice that he didn’t kissmyhand. He thinks I’m after Eric’s money. Which is dumb, because if I was—” He places his hands on his hips and grins. “—I’d be dressed like this every day. What should we hit first?”

A cluster of looping water slides is closest, so we begin there. As promised, there are no lines. Jace and I are allowed to go down as a couple. (Now there’s a thought!) I love having his long legs wrapped around me, the cold water and burst of adrenaline keeping embarrassing reactions at bay. I soon lose myself in having fun as we run around the park, partaking of anything that strikes our fancy. When tiring of water slides, we visit the wave pool. Then back to more slides before we drift in inflatable tubes along a lazy river. That part involves some tension, since it keeps Tim and Jace’s bodies on display. I can’t stop comparing them, neither coming up short. I like everything they both have to offer.

Tim, to his credit, is well-behaved. He hasn’t been flirting with me. At all. I expected some hijinks, like in the wave pool, when he easily could have crashed into me by accident, our bodies tangling up. But no… If anything, his focus has mostly been on Jace. Tim asks him about his work as we drift, no longer taking cheap shots. Instead he shows genuine interest while occasionally sharing stories of his own, like where he’s traveled with Eric. Jace has been to many of the same places. I feel a bit left out of those conversations, but it’s a price I’m glad to pay, because I like seeing them get along so well.

When we finally decide to leave the river, Tim climbs outfirst, so he can grab the inflatable tubes from us. He tosses them aside and offers Jace his hand. I don’t think my boyfriend needs the help, but it’s a nice gesture I suppose. Although, when we’re standing in the sun to dry off while discussing where to eat, it is a little weird when Tim, who is already standing really close to Jace, puts an arm around him, a hand landing on his shoulder.

“There’s an actual restaurant over there,” he says, angling Jace while pointing. “Or a hot dog stand that way, around the corner.”

“I don’t want to eat too much,” Jace says, taking a step forward so he can turn to face us. Tim’s hand slides off as he goes, moving halfway down Jace’s back.

“I’m not very hungry,” I chime in. “A hotdog sounds perfect.”

“You sure?” Tim asks. “Marcello is floating the bill.”

“We could always eat at the restaurant just before we go,” I suggest, loving the idea of a free meal.

“Good plan!” Tim says. “We have all day.”

Before long, we’re all standing around a small chest-high table, eating hotdogs and sipping sodas. I tell a story about going river tubing with my family when I was younger. My sister Karen got tangled in fallen tree branches near the shore while the rest of us were swept away in the midstream current. We didn’t see her again for another hour, and by the time we did, she had all sorts of debris in her hair from the ordeal she’d been through. “I swear she had an entire bird’s nest stuck in there,” I say while laughing. “Her tube had sprung a leak too and was half-deflated. It was the best day of my life.”

Tim grins before peering at Jace. “You’ve got some mustard on your face, my dude,” he says. “Here. I’ve got ya.”

He reaches out and rubs his thumb along Jace’s lower lip. Which he then brings to his mouth so he can suck it clean. With a smirk.