Overboard (12 page)

W
ith several hours
of the afternoon left before dinner, Duncan and Sebastian returned to the swimming area. Neither really wanted to do anything more strenuous or socially risky than relaxing in the sun.

Duncan dove into his book and read three chapters before bookmarking his page and asking Sebastian, “You really think I’m gonna look okay in that suit.”

Sebastian threw his towel at Duncan. “Stop fishing for compliments. You would’ve looked good in the stupid blue prom suit. But yes, you’ll look even better in the gray one.”

Duncan tossed the towel back. “Almost as good as you?”

“Now you’re just being silly. I’m the beauty and you’re the beast, right?”

Duncan frowned. He was always the rough-and-tumble guy. The tattoos made people have trouble seeing the man beneath them. Every once in a while Duncan regretted them, but it only took a minute to realize he it wasn’t the tattoos. He regretted the assumptions that people attached to his tattoos. He couldn’t be responsible for everybody’s reaction to everything.

Kind of like the fact that he was gay. It would bother some people. That wasn’t Duncan’s fault and he knew he shouldn’t worry about it.

“Right. I’m the beast. Is there anything I can do to make myself a little more handsomely gentle for this party?”

Sebastian laughed warmly. “Are you saying you want to be pretty for your sister’s wedding?”

“Well maybe not exactly pretty. But are there any little things I can do? Maybe some fancy socks?”

Sebastian nearly rolled off of his lounge chair. “People won’t even notice your socks. We bought you a suit that fits this time.”

Sebastian stopped his ribbing for a second to seriously consider the question again.

Duncan loved that his new boyfriend could give as good as he got, but was also able to be serious when the situation arose.

Sebastian finally said, “I’m not going to tell you to do it, but if you shaved that might help a little bit.”

Duncan growled, “No fucking way. I’ve had this beard since I was in high school. I’m not me without it.”

“Since high school? I would’ve sworn you were born with it. I’ll have to ask your mother to see some baby pictures later to prove you weren’t born with a beard. Seriously though, don’t shave the whole thing. Maybe just clean up around the bottom of your neck. I like your big, thick, soft beard, but it would look better without all the neck hair.”

Duncan felt his neck. Too many years working in people’s basements had made him a little lazy about shaving. “Okay that’s a good idea. I can do that for Katey.” He paused for a second. “And for you.”

“How sweet. No joke. That’s about the sweetest thing you’ve said to me. Thank you. Can we do it tonight?”

It was Duncan’s turn to throw his towel.

Sebastian rolled onto his stomach and said, “Hey, put a little lotion on me.”

Duncan reached for the suntan lotion. He would’ve never considered it, except that no one was around. There must have been something going on somewhere else on the ship that had lured away all the people. His body started to tingle with the anticipation of touching Sebastian so intimately out in the open.

“On your back?”

“I was thinking of tanning the front side. And I was planning to go for a full-body tan.”

Duncan rolled his eyes at Sebastian’s teasing words.

“Yeah, my back. Make sure you get my shoulders good.”

Duncan popped open the lid and was about to squirt the lotion onto Sebastian’s back when a voice behind him said, “Oh, excuse us.”

Duncan turned to see that two men had snuck up on them. They were holding hands and looked embarrassed at interrupting.

“We were hoping for a little privacy. But you guys got here first. Can we come back in about fifteen minutes?”

Duncan closed the suntan lotion. “No it’s fine. We were just getting ready to go... somewhere else. You can use these chairs. Enjoy.”

Sebastian shook his head the entire time Duncan spoke, but left without saying a word. As they walked away, Sebastian asked, “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that
we
need some actual privacy. Should we just go back to our room and wait ’til dinner?”

“Seriously.” Sebastian agreed. “This ship is too small. I have an idea, though. Instead of going back to the room, let’s go get massages. Maybe if we split up for a few minutes, it will help cool us down. Plus we’ll be all nice and relaxed when we go to dinner.”

Duncan had never had a massage before. It had never registered as something that men really did.

Sebastian was crumbling walls down right and left.

“I’ll follow wherever you lead.”

T
he massage parlor
didn’t have any openings before dinner. The only one they had was a couple’s massage afterward.

Duncan blushed at the news while Sebastian laughed at the situation. Sebastian looked at Duncan without saying a word, clearly making it his decision.

Other than being terrified of somebody noticing the two of them walking in together, the thought of a couple’s massage excited him. The thought of being rubbed while lying practically naked in a room with Sebastian nearby stirred his loins.

Duncan wanted to spend more time doing couples’ things with Sebastian. He couldn’t wait until the next day for the chance to get off the crowded ship and spend some time alone together on their excursion.

“Yes. We’ll take the massage. We’re not a couple though.”

He cringed at the words, but old habits died hard. His confidence didn’t seem to stretch much further than inside his own head.

Dinner passed insufferably slowly. George asked for enough details about their business venture that Duncan and Sebastian both looked for any way out of the conversation. Duncan’s dad seemed intrigued by what he was doing, for once, instead of judging him.

Nancy came to the rescue. “These boys are on vacation. They don’t want to talk shop. I’m sure that they can work out all the details on their own when they get back home. Have some lobster.”

Jason and Katey sat at one of the other three tables. Duncan watched for signs of Jason being an ass, but everything seemed to be going smoothly.

Good. It was more important that he treat Katey well than Duncan.

Eventually Sebastian pushed away his cheesecake and tapped the watch on his wrist to remind Duncan that it was time to go.

Not that Duncan needed any reminder. He was more worried about how he was going to extract himself from the table without anyone noticing the hard-on he had started to develop over the last few minutes while imagining the massage they would be heading to.

Good Lord
, he thought.
Sebastian’s gonna be the end of me before this is all over.

While walking together through the ship, Duncan said, “It’s so strange to go through a meal with my family with no real stress or grief or anything for once. Even Dad seemed nice tonight.”

“We’re made for each other, Duncan. The world can’t help to be happy for us.”

Duncan didn’t have to struggle too hard to convince himself that Sebastian was right. Everything did seem to be going better than he could have imagined when they first stepped on the ship.

When they reached to the massage studio, the receptionist was busy checking in Edith and Emil.

“Hello boys. We’re heading in for a couple’s massage. Knock before you open any of the doors, you dirty pervs. Enjoy your business massage.” The old lady cackled as a blond man with bulging muscles led her and Emil down the hallway.

After a few quick words with the receptionist, another man, with matching biceps and wearing short white shorts and a white polo shirt, led Duncan and Sebastian to their own private room. Duncan glanced at the two massage tables, the dark wooden floors and the black bookcases loaded with green plants. Some relaxing new-age music floated through the room.

The man who had led them down the hall busied himself placing towels on the massage tables. Duncan wondered which of them the guy would be massaging. Duncan wasn’t sure he wanted a massage from a man.

Unless it was from Sebastian of course.

How much would Sebastian have to pay for us to have the room to ourselves for an hour?

The man smiled at the couple and said, and “Your masseuses will be here in a few minutes. Take a couple minutes to get undressed and get yourselves on the tables. Enjoy your massage.”

Duncan breathed a sigh of relief watching the guy walk out of the room.

Sebastian quickly pulled off his shirt and shorts. When he grabbed the waistband of his underwear, Duncan nearly squeaked. “What are you doing? You can’t do that here.”

Sebastian laughed. “No man. It’s completely okay. Just drape a towel over your middle. It’s completely discrete, unless you get excited. That can be a little embarrassing, but they’re professionals. They’ll just ignore it or turn their backs until it goes away or make you flip onto your stomach so they can focus on your back.”

“But I’ve had a fucking chubby for the last half hour. I don’t think it’s going to go away.”

Sebastian closed the distance between them and gave Duncan a full, wet kiss on the lips. “I’ll make it go away later,” he said seductively. “That’s a promise. For now just do your best to think about baseball or whatever you use for these occasions.”

“That’s not helping at all,” Duncan said while adjusting his shorts.

Frustrated about needing to wait, Duncan followed Sebastian’s lead and stripped down completely.

Once Duncan was naked, Sebastian stepped close for another kiss. During the kiss, he brushed his hand against Duncan’s ever-growing dick. “Oops. Sorry.”

Duncan playfully pushed him away. “I’ll bet you are. Behave or I’ll hold you down and make you beg for it later.”

Duncan’s words backfired. The thought only made him harder.

Sebastian seemed to approve of that option. He looked like he was ready to do some more to help guarantee its outcome.

A knock on the door interrupted them.

Duncan and Sebastian scurried toward their tables while they both yelled, “One second!”

When the door finally opened a man and a woman both entered the room. The woman was a redhead in her mid-thirties. Perfectly safe.

The man made Duncan nervous. He was tall and strong, like himself. He also had long dark hair and a full beard, like himself. The biggest difference is that the masseur had shaved his neck. Even Duncan had to admit that it made the beard look a million times better. He’d definitely have to do that before the wedding.

In the meantime, he was stuck with an awful choice. He either needed to let a man give him a massage or let a man rub his hands all over Sebastian.

The two massage therapists talked casually and laughed at a private joke while getting organized.

Duncan decided that he’d rather be uncomfortable being touched by a man in front of Sebastian then watch Sebastian being touched. Duncan worried that Sebastian would decide he preferred the other man and Duncan would be left behind. After all, as much as he wanted to believe he could trust Sebastian, the man had been a man-whore for long enough that it couldn’t have left his system entirely. It was better just to avoid the temptation.

Anger flared in Duncan.

If I have to fend off men to keep Sebastian faithful, this is not going to work.

No matter what, though, he needed it to work for the rest of the cruise. They were sharing a room. Duncan couldn’t survive watching Sebastian hook up right in front of him.

I should have known to stay away from a bad boy. It never ends well.

Before opening his mouth to ask for the man, the two made the decision on their own. The woman approached Duncan’s table.

He wanted to say something but didn’t want to sound insecure and needy no matter how insecure and needy he felt.

He breathed deeply to try and calm himself. It’s just a massage. If he stayed calm, there was no reason to expect that they wouldn’t end up back in their room, horny and ready to fuck.

Which was exactly what Duncan had been hoping for a few minutes earlier.

“Hey, careful not to tickle this guy,” Duncan told the man getting ready to massage Sebastian. “He hates that.”

“Yeah,” Sebastian agreed. “Firm hands, strong fingers. Squeeze tight. We can get a smaller towel if you want.”

Duncan glared at Sebastian and the small towel that barely covered his impressive dick. The bastard was already flirting with the guy, and right in front of Duncan.

Duncan’s masseuse started rubbing his shoulders. “Whoa. You are a bundle of stress. We can’t have that on our cruise. Chris, you might have to come help me with this guy.”

The woman turned Duncan’s head to the side. He couldn’t avoid seeing Sebastian and his new man. Sebastian sighed and moaned.

“No. Chris isn’t going anywhere until he finishes me with those amazing hands,” Sebastian said.

Duncan saw Sebastian’s erection. Chris had to see it too, but he didn’t turn his back or ask Sebastian to flip onto his stomach. Chris didn’t even seem to ignore it. His hands were entirely too low on Sebastian’s stomach, rubbing the abs that Duncan felt that only he should be allowed to touch.

Sebastian made no move to hide his erection or guide Chris to a more chaste part of his body.

Being with Sebastian had been a mistake. No, he decided. Trusting Sebastian had been a mistake. Duncan should have taken what he wanted without ever once forgetting that Sebastian was a player who couldn’t be trusted further than he could be seen.

Duncan should have been spending the cruise enjoying the sex and getting himself ready to move on when they got home. No harm. No foul.

His anger continued to rise during the massage. When the woman apologized for not being able to work out the kinks, Sebastian giggled. Duncan swallowed any retorts about who had been working on which kinks. Sebastian wasn’t worth the fight.

He just smiled while Sebastian paid with his dad’s credit card, leaving an extra-large tip.

Enjoy it, Chris. That’s all you’re getting from Sebastian this trip: a little bit of his daddy’s money.