tiny sparks in the glow of the four-wheeler’s headlights. They hugged for a long time, and before they parted, Beau held James’s face in his hands.
“You and me from now on,” Beau said. “All right?”
“Yeah.” James nodded, feeling that warm swell in his chest again. “All right.”
Chapter 27: Imagine
It was just past midnight when James pulled up to Hunter’s. The windows of the trailer were glowing only dimly. James hoped he wasn’t waking him up.
He was. Hunter opened the door in a pair of flannel pants and no shirt, sleepy-eyed and surprised.
“Sorry,” James said. “I woke you.”
Hunter mumbled a drowsy dismissal and pulled him in by the front of his shirt, pressing a kiss to his lips as he shut the door. “Mm.”
“Mm,” James agreed. Sleepy Hunter was good. He smoothed his hands up Hunter’s chest and over his shoulders, kissing him back.
“Good to see you,” Hunter whispered against his cheek, then leaned back to look at him. “What’re you doing out here so late?”
“Nothing.” James ran both hands gently through Hunter’s hair. It was a little damp, like he’d showered before bed. “You work tomorrow?”
“Huh-uh.” Hunter’s arm tightened around his waist. “You staying?”
“Can I?”
“Mm-hm.” Hunter dipped his head to catch his lips in another kiss, his hands moving lazily up James’s back. His kisses were so smooth and soft that they made James’s whole body relax. He drank it up as Hunter pulled him toward the bedroom, undressing him along the way.
Stripped to his trunks, James sighed with pleasure as Hunter pulled him down on the bed. “I love your place.”
“I’m glad you do,” Hunter murmured with amusement. “More fun with you here.”
“You might have weird taste in fun.”
“Always have.” Hunter kissed him again.
James pulled him in close, arms wrapped around his broad shoulders, knees parted around his hips. Why was it so easy to feel so good with him?
“Can’t get enough of you, James,” Hunter murmured, his hand slipping under James’s trunks to grope his ass, long fingers skimming along the cleft. His mouth moved along James’s jaw, kissing and sucking a path down his neck, feeling out the contours of his throat, his collarbone.
What if this were real? What if James stayed here for good—with Beau, with the woods, with the ocean, with Hunter?
What if this were his life? Late nights in the forest, basking in the wild light of Beau’s smile, and then sliding into Hunter’s bed, melting under his slow hands? Breathing in the salty air and evergreen and rich, rain-soaked earth every day, hearing the wind rush through the trees, watching dawn break through the mist…
James was kissing Hunter passionately now, lost in the visions rising under his touch. He twined his fingers in that golden hair, deepening the kiss like he wanted to get all the way inside. It was a rainless night, and the room was silent. They could hear every breath, every whisper of friction, every slip and slide of lips and tongue.
Dreams, of course. Just dreams, these feelings toward Hunter. Fantasies. The reality was that he was in no shape for a happy ending at the moment. How could he invite someone else into his future when he still couldn’t see through his own pain and despair?
But maybe that could change. Maybe he could get through this. Maybe he could heal, and move forward. Out here, in these woods he so obviously belonged in, or just downriver by the sea, with a friend in Hunter and a brother in Beau. And maybe if he made the right choices, he could have more than a friend in Hunter.
Maybe…
Hunter brushed James’s hair back and looked curiously into his eyes, like he could tell something was happening in his head. James stared right back at him, thinking about Bryce and Grace. She looked at me like she already knew me. I was in love before I knew her name. I just knew if I walked away from her, I’d regret it for the rest of my life.
It could happen like that. Just that simple, just like that.
James took Hunter’s head in his hands and pulled him down for another kiss, moaning under his breath at the way their lips and tongues danced together like they knew exactly what to do.
“James,” Hunter breathed, his wandering hands sparking every nerve under James’s skin as he went back to chewing hot kisses along his neck, searing a winding path down his chest, sucking and nipping at the muscles of his abdomen, easing his trunks down.
James moaned