Chapter Seven

THEN

 

Despite the girls’ initial hesitation to go along with Lenox’s suggestion of bubbles on the beach, within the hour they had freshened up, grabbed a couple of blankets from the villa to sit on and stocked up on four bottles of Spanish Cava from their local shop.

Giggling and talking at a volume that was attracting disapproving stares from others out for romantic, late-night strolls along the beach, they made their way towards the water’s edge. Lenox couldn’t help but scan the shadowed faces along the beach, but as far as he could tell, there were no signs of any dreadlocks in sight.

As the bottles were popped and the sound of trickling alcohol being tipped into tall flutes hit his ears, Lenox’s distracted glances caught Bambi’s eye.

“What?” he asked sheepishly, knowing she could see right through his innocent facade.

“Looking for someone?” she countered.

“What do you mean?”

But Bambi only smiled coquettishly and nodded, her eyes narrowing as she took a spot on the blanket.

The air was refreshing and cool, with a gentle salty breeze coming off the ocean that caressed their hot skin but left a gritty film in its wake. Lenox shivered despite himself before Del Rey’s smoky voice interrupted his thoughts.

“Hey chief, you coming in for a landing?”

Lenox turned away from the sea for a moment to greet her questioning glance before being drawn back towards the sound of someone surfacing from the water just off to his left.

It took a moment for his alcohol-induced double vision to focus enough to see the body climbing out of the sea, and a moment further to register the familiarity of the shape. Something inside him sparked as if a flint had just lit a pile of dried leaves, causing flames to jump and lick the air around them, his body coming to life as he lit up from inside.

He noticed the blond dreads first, then the incredibly toned arms and chest. The moon from above made the water glisten as it ran south over the man’s round pectoral muscles. The rushing waves made it seem like he was moving in slow motion as his thick calves fought against the tide, his stride strong as he lifted his knees high in the air to reach the shore. He gave his head a shake from side to side, ridding his dreadlocks of excess water, before he reached up and ran both hands through them, lifting their length from his shoulders before letting them cascade down his back. His solid biceps flexed with the motion before he ran his hands over his frame, wiping droplets of water from his chest and lifting the material of his hot pink swimming trunks that had suctioned itself to his legs.

Lenox could do nothing but gape at the sight as his heart raced with excitement and the butterflies recommitted to their rhythmic beating in his stomach.

It took a moment for the others to turn their attention back to their statue-like comrade, stood erect on the spot, apparently entranced by something in the water. Tulip was the first to take notice.

“Mate, what you on about? You joining us or what?”

“What are you looking at, Lenox?” Del Rey added, her eyes following his deadpan gaze towards the water’s edge.

“Yeah, what are you…?” Bubbles started before taking immediate notice and stopping herself in her tracks.

The group erupted into a fit of schoolgirl giggles as they too noticed the beautifully tanned, blond Adonis emerging from the water. Lenox felt like he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He turned to them and sunk to the blanket, eyes wide and face full of embarrassment as he shushed them quickly in hopes that the man wouldn’t spot them.

“Oh. My. God!” Bambi declared, much louder than Lenox would have liked. “Is that who I think it is?”

“Shhh!”

“No! Really? Mm-hmm! That boy is fiiiine. Now I see why you wanted to come down to the beach.”

“Oh my God, shut up! He’ll hear you!”

“Wait a minute, is that the bloke from this morning?” Bubbles asked, forever slow on the uptake.

“Hey, hot stuff, nice abs!” Tulip shouted at the stranger, sounding like a construction worker hollering at a pretty girl on the street.

Lenox averted his gaze from the nightmare playing out in front of him and wished silently he could bury his face in the sand.

“I hate you all!” he whispered through gritted teeth.

“It’s okay, Lenox. He’s gone. Don’t worry,” Tulip said.

Relieved, Lenox lifted his head to look in the direction from where he’d spotted his mystery man.

“Psyche!” Tulip teased before erupting into an evil cackle as Lenox realised Tulip’s lie.

Lenox dared steal a glance back to the guy who was now wiping himself down, a grin playing with the corners of his mouth as he listened to the teasing and heckling happening to his left. He lifted his head and made eye contact with Lenox for the first time since the previous morning.

The effect was electric.

Despite his utter embarrassment, Lenox couldn’t look away. He wasn’t sure if he was returning the sly smile directed his way, or staring dumbfounded into space. But whatever vibe he let off it was working, for after a few seconds he realised that the heckling and laughter had died down and the man was coming his way.

The girls were shushing themselves as they saw this beautiful blond, dreaded, muscular fellow slowly making his way towards their little group, towel and shirt in hand.

The girls’ lapse into a sudden, deafening silence meant the stranger must be having the same effect on them as he had on Lenox himself. They all admired the sight of the broad-shouldered and lithely toned frame coming in their direction; each muscle in his body working and flexing as he walked bare-footed through the sand. He shook his head once more, his long hair whipping across his face as he shook his dreads free of their watery weight.

Lenox stilled himself as his mind went completely blank, searching for something to say as the reality of the situation hit him hard, sobering him up. He swallowed his nerves as he found himself face-to-face with the man who had been playing on his mind every second of the day since he’d first laid eyes on him.

There was a pause as the man’s eyes washed over Lenox, taking in the sight of his taut body through the thin, white, low-cut vest which hugged his full pecs and tight abs perfectly.

“Esperaba verte de nuevo!”

The stranger’s voice was equal parts melodic and rough, like the soft, raspy tone of a rock star after a two-hour gig. The Spanish words caught Lenox off guard as they didn’t match the way he envisioned them sounding in his head. The accent didn’t appear to be local, but it certainly wasn’t English.

Through his Cava haze he searched fruitlessly for the meaning of the sentence.

“I’m sorry, what’s that?” Lenox asked, deciding he was far too drunk to attempt a Spanish response.

“Oh, apologies,” the man responded, placing his hand on his chest in a forgiving gesture “I’m not sure why I assumed you were Spanish. Excuse me.”

The girls, as well as Lenox, were silenced by his chivalrousness. They sat there wide-eyed and disbelieving as if they hadn’t been convinced that Lenox’s vision from this morning actually existed.

“I was just saying I was hoping to see you again.”

“Oh,” Lenox muttered.

The man quickly held out an iPhone. “I think this belongs to you.”

“Oh, my God, my phone. Where did you find it?” Lenox gushed, his face lighting up like a kid at Christmas.

The man laughed at his reaction. “I found it on the beach this morning. When I looked at the home screen I recognised your face in the picture. Took a long shot but was hoping I might run into you here again.”

“Oh, my God,” he repeated drunkenly. “You are an absolute lifesaver. Thank you so much. I thought it was lost forever!”

“You’re welcome. Really. It’s my pleasure.”

His eyes shone that same aquamarine blue at night that Lenox remembered from their earlier encounter, and again Lenox felt that instant attraction.

There was a brief silence between them as the man’s gaze brushed over the unusually quiet girls who were all staring up at him in complete bewilderment from the blanket on the sand.

“Hi!” he offered to them with a shy wave as if he’d just become aware of the gaggle of beautiful girls that surrounded him.

“Oh, I’m sorry. These…are my friends!” Lenox announced with a sweeping gesture of his arm.

When the man responded in his liquid, smoky tone, it was more to Lenox than to the rest of the group. “Hi, I’m Lyric,” he said, extending a hand in Lenox’s direction.

Lenox paused for a moment too long as the beauty of that word splashed over him. He opened his mouth to speak, but got caught on the utter charm of his name.

Lyric, he repeated to himself in his head, praying that it wasn’t out loud.

The sound of Bambi clearing her throat from where she sat removed him from inside his own head.

“Lyric…” He repeated back to him, testing how it felt on his tongue. “I’m Lenox…”

He accepted Lyric’s hand and they shook, each taking in the connection and the sensation of their skin touching for the first time.

There was an extended, awkward silence as they continued the languid shaking of the other’s hand, their eyes locked on one another’s as if they were telling a story with their gaze.

A nervous giggle from one of the girls broke the moment and Lenox could sense movement and shuffling going on behind him. He cleared his own throat before attempting to speak.

“Uh, so do you maybe want to join us for a drink?” he suggested to Lyric, looking behind him with a hopeful glint in his eye which quickly turned to a frown as he noticed his friends beginning to clear up.

“Actually, we might call it a night,” Bambi interjected quickly, “but you two stay. There’s plenty to drink. Have fun!”

She sounded like an over-protective mother trying to prove to her newly out gay son how cool she was with him hooking up with guys. To Lenox, it came off as less than subtle.

The look in Lenox’s eye was intended to let Bambi know that he wasn’t quite ready to be alone with his new crush, but she wouldn’t have noticed, anyway, as she seemed to be doing everything in her power to avoid his stare altogether.

Lyric let out a stifled laugh of his own as he became aware of what was happening.

“It’s okay, if you want to go too, I mean…” Lenox could detect some definite undertones of disappointment to Lyric’s words.

“No! I mean I’d love to stay. That is, if you want to…”

Lyric just smiled a sexy sideways grin revealing a row of teeth so white they seemed to gleam in the moonlight.

“Guay!” Lyric responded, which Lenox recognised as translating to “cool” in English.

The girls began to saunter away quietly as if their previous gusto had vanished and they found themselves very self-aware. Bambi was the only one to come and kiss her friend on the cheek before turning to leave.

“It was nice to meet you, Lyric,” she added. “You boys have fun…”

As she trotted away after the others, Lenox turned back to Lyric and smiled a tight-lipped smile.

“Can I interest you in a drink?”

“Love one.”

Lyric slipped the vest he had been carrying over his head and sat down on the blanket the girls had left behind.

“Is that one of your friends?” Lyric asked before sitting down, his eyes focused on someone down the beach.

“Who?” Lenox followed Lyric’s gaze, which was oddly serious. Behind them, a man stood in a strange, erect pose. And although his face was cast in shadow it was clear he was looking towards them.

“No. Don’t think so,” Lenox said squinting into the darkness. The figure moved, as if he’d been caught out, and turned away from the beach. “That’s weird. Anyways. Sit, please!”