Page 40 of Fear of Flying
“So you have a thing for lifeguards?”
“Nuh-uh.” Drew’s lips found Zach’s earlobe and sucked gently, his hands still caressing Zach’s ass. Then came the ragged whisper in his ear. “I have a thing for you, Superman.”
Zach tried not to die right on the spot, the heady feeling of Drew’s assault on his senses combined with the knowledge that, for Drew, Superman was—that he was... Zach lost the rest of his thought in his haze of desire, but oh god, they needed to put the brakes on, didn’t they?
So, as much as he was reluctant to, Zach used every ounce of willpower at his disposal to pull away slightly and put a bit of distance between them. Thankfully, Drew seemed to understand why they were suddenly no longer touching, though he still looked dazed for a second.
With a shaky voice, Zach attempted some innocent banter, though it fell somewhere... really short of innocent. “Oh, so when there were only two terrible choices in the airport clothing store, and you insisted on taking the tropical floral print ones, that was why? So that I’d be stuck with the bright red ones in order to fulfill a fantasy of yours?”
To say that Drew’s shrug—his shoulders rising and both hands going wide—was adorable and sexy all at once would be a huge understatement. Zach had to restrain himself from launching back at Drew for another kiss, so he splashed him playfully instead.
“Ahhh, playing dirty, are you?” Drew laughed as he returned Zach’s splash.
“Dirty?” Zach questioned, raising an eyebrow suggestively.
Drew bit his lip, maybe in an effort not to laugh, but it wasn’t successful. “No comment,” he said.
Ah god, that was fucking sexy. Something in Zach’s eyes must have read as an invitation for Drew, because before Zach even realized what was happening, Drew’s lips were on him, kissing him deeply with an edge of hunger for something more. But it was over almost as quickly as it had begun, Drew pulling back and giving him a devastatingly handsome but wicked grin.
“Time for laps?” he asked innocently, putting a smidge more distance back between them.
Zach shook his head, but only to clear his mind. “Uh, yep. Yeah. Let’s, um...”
“Swim some laps?” Drew’s grin still lingered.
Zach only shook his head again, this time with a laugh, and they both picked an informal lane and took off swimming toward the opposite end of the pool. After a few laps, Zach stopped and rested against the wall, working to catch his breath and wishing he were in slightly better shape. Though it wasn’t like he swam all that often.
Drew stopped next to him and leaned up against the wall as well, propping himself up with his elbows on the concrete behind him. He looked around the room and then out at the parking lot through the window, his gaze thoughtful, maybe. “Are we all done with laps, you think?” he asked after a moment.
“Part of me thinks I should do more, but I really just don’t want to.” Zach laughed lightly, then gave a slight nod and a lift of his eyebrows in the direction of the hot tub. “Relaxing time?”
Drew nodded eagerly. “Let’s go,” he said, already heading toward the ladder on the side of the pool.
Zach grinned as he followed him out, Drew’s eagerness contagious. When they reached the edge of the hot tub, Zach hit the plunger on the wall to start the jets churning. He let Drew go first, watching as he made bold steps down into the water and sat down, inhaling sharply and then slowly blowing out a deep breath.
“Hot?”
“It’s perfect, actually. Just, you know, takes a second to adjust. C’mon,” he said, holding out a hand.
Zach grimaced but took Drew’s now very warm hand and put his feet on the top step. “Ahhhh! That’s”—he sucked air in through his teeth—“hot!” he said, almost accusingly.
“What? It is the perfect temperature once you adjust to it.” Drew smiled warmly at him and gave his hand a squeeze. “C’mon, baby, join me,” he pleaded gently, his voice just a whisper above the sound of the bubbling water from the jets.
“I’m going to, I’m going to! Just might take me a hot minute longer than you to get used to it.” Zach gave him a mock-glare, but even still, his heart squeezed pleasantly at Drew’s words and touch. When he finally made it all the way in, he lowered himself to sit next to Drew on the bench and submerged himself up to his shoulders in the roiling water.
“Better now?” Drew asked, his hand coming to rest on Zach’s thigh.
“Much better.”
A noise at the far end of the room drew their attention, and Zach watched briefly as a group of four twenty-somethings came into the pool area, their voices and laughter echoing off the walls and the water. It looked like they brought a ball with them, and they all jumped into the water noisily and began setting up to play an informal game of volleyball.
Drew’s thumb brushed against Zach’s thigh under the water before his hand slipped away, and Zach turned to look at Drew when he cleared his throat. “Uh, so do you have any plans for... this weekend—you know, assuming we both make it back to our respective homes?”
Zach glanced to the side, out the wall of tall windows half surrounding them—a fabulous view of the massive parking lot, but also the sky. “Well, it looks like it at least stopped snowing. I wonder if it’s snowing back home in Albuquerque.” He focused on Drew again. “This weekend is monthly brunch, and my mom likes to have it on the back patio once the weather starts warming up a bit.”
“The infamous monthly brunch?” Drew’s eyes were wide. “The one with no quiche for Zach?”
“The very same.” Zach laughed. “What about you?”