I looked down at him as he gave me those puppy dog eyes that never failed to soften my heart and smiled. “Promise?”
He grinned up at me, like he was having fun. “I promise. Scout’s honor. But I still want to do the whole bury someone in the sand thing, so what about if you covered me instead? I don’t have any fear of being trapped by a few grains of sand.”
“You want me to cover you with sand?”
Jumping up, he unbuttoned his pants. “Yeah, but not in these. Give me a second.” And with that, he stripped them off and threw them over the back of a beach chair before he turned back to face me wearing only his boxer briefs. “Okay, I’m ready. Let’s do this!”
I watched as he sat back down and lay flat on the sand really wanting me to bury him. I’d never seen him like this. He seemed genuinely happy—not like he was at the club, usually because he was up to no good there but happy, like he didn’t have a care in the world and playing in the sand was the best thing he’d ever thought of.
“For the record, even burying someone in sand sort of creeps me out,” I admitted as I sat down next to him.
He picked up some sand and threw it on top of his knees. “I’m a willing participant, but if it makes you feel more comfortable, only cover up to my waist. Sound good?”
The real sense of fear that had been building inside me since we’d begun this conversation ebbed a bit at the thought that at least most of him wouldn’t be trapped. Scooping up a tiny handful of sand, I tossed it onto his muscular thigh next to me. “Okay, that makes this a little easier. This still seems silly, though.”
As I began in earnest to pile the sand on his legs, he leaned back and crossed his arms behind his head, totally relaxed about being immobilized at my hands. “What’s wrong with something being silly? Life is too fucking serious, Shay. You have to enjoy yourself.”
“I enjoy myself. You make it sound like I don’t,” I said as I finished covering his ankles.
“I’m just saying life is too short. Take all that school you’ve done. If the world ended tomorrow, what would it matter?”
His condemnation of what I’d devoted so much of my life to, even if he was just joking, bothered me. Turning to face him, I tried to force myself to keep my words light like his, but I couldn’t. He’d picked the wrong topic to tease me about.
“If the world ended tomorrow, I’d be proud of the work I’d done. My research might someday help cure disease and save lives. What have you done that can measure up to that?”
Instantly, the hurt from my words showed in his eyes. I hadn’t meant to be such a bitch, but there it was. Regret surged through me, but before I could apologize, not for the meaning of my words but the delivery, he laughed. “You’re that same person who put me in my place the first time I met you. Fair enough. I haven’t done much of anything that can measure up to the important work you’ve done. You’re not wrong.”
“I’m sorry for saying that, Stefan. That wasn’t fair. I should be able to be proud of my work without looking down on yours. I’m sorry.”
Touching my hand, he shook his head and smiled. “No, you’re right. I run a nightclub. Not much of anything to change the world there.”
“I didn’t mean it like that. I guess I’m just touchy about my work. I don’t mean to be a bitch either. I know I was the first day. One would think after all the time I’ve spent in clubs that I’d be more easygoing with that kind of stuff.”
“You are who you are, Shay. And I’m who I am. That doesn’t mean we can’t have fun, though, so get back to covering me in sand before the sun comes up.”
His easy dismissal of my defensiveness made forgiving myself easier, but as I got back to the task of burying him in the sand, I couldn’t help feel that he’d forgiven me too easily. Whatever thoughts I had about that, though, disappeared as I reached the tops of his thighs and saw the outline of his hard cock pointing up toward his stomach under his boxer briefs. I felt his stare on me as a rush of heat flooded my cheeks.
“Almost there. Just a few inches more and I’ll be completely buried.”
I turned to see him grinning at me. “Enjoying yourself?”
“Immensely.” His gaze traveled to his cock and he winked at me. “And I can’t wait to see what you do with that.”
“You should be worried that you might get sand in your junk, Stefan. I can’t imagine that would feel good.”
His face twisted into a painful grimace. “Oh. That sounds bad. How about you just avoid that whole area?”
“Just like a friend would,” I joked as I piled on more sand, carefully working around his hard-on.
By the time I’d finished, we were back to joking and laughing, and as I stood up to take a look at my accomplishment, I couldn’t remember having a better time with a man. How strange that it should be with the one I’d been so sure I could never like at all.
“All done, so now you can check off buried in sand on your bucket list,” I proudly announced as my gaze trailed over his half-covered body. “You look like some weird merman.”
Sitting up, he nodded and laughed at my joke. “I think it would be a sandman, but that name is taken already. You’re the one with the brains, so what should we call this?”
I had no idea what to call him, but what I did know was that except for those few minutes I felt bad about what I’d said to hurt his feelings, I’d smiled more in the past couple hours than I could remember in a long time. “I have no idea. It’s silly, though.”
His hand shot out and grabbed mine, pulling me down on top of him and crushing my chest against his. Stunned, I didn’t even struggle to get free. Those brown eyes of his stared into my eyes, and I felt myself get lost in them as he said, “How am I doing with this friend thing so far?”
It took me a second to process what he’d said. Lying on top of him didn’t help to make my thinking clear, and his mouth mere inches away from mine made things much worse. Finally, I croaked out, “Fine. You’re doing fine.”
Stefan leaned forward and pressed his lips to my cheek in a soft kiss. Pulling back, he stared into my eyes and whispered, “Good. I think it’s time I got you home, though. We can practice our friend thing another time. Sound good?”
All at once, the reality that I was still on top of him rushed back into my brain and I scrambled to my feet to get my wits back. “Sure. That sounds fine.”