“Close your eyes for me,” Jude said a little quieter.
He closed his eyes and a second later a light mist sprayed across his face.
“I’m going to touch you now,” Jude said. “To, uh, rub it in.”
Liam nodded.
Jude’s fingers were gentle as he rubbed in the surprisingly unsticky sunscreen. One of the reasons that Liam hated using the stuff was because it was so oily and thick and sticky but whatever Jude used was different.
“Neck now,” Jude whispered.
“K.” Liam kept his eyes closed. If he pretended for a moment that it was his Daddy worrying about him and taking care of him, then it didn’t hurt anyone.
He couldn’t help the shudder when Jude’s fingers danced over the back of his neck.
“Okay?” Jude questioned.
“Good.” He was so good.
“Almost done.”
That was a shame.
By the time that Jude pulled away, Liam had no choice but to open his eyes. He avoided eye contact, a little embarrassed by his reaction to the other man touching him. Jude had just been helping him. It didn’t mean anything.
“Thank you,” Liam said as he placed the lemonade glass down beside his knee. Jude had been the one that said the glass could be cleaned, after all. He wanted to get back to his sandcastle and forget all about the last ten minutes.
“You’re welcome.” Jude stood. “Is that all you have to use?”
Liam shrugged. “I rescued the bucket and shovel this morning. It still works.” Not that it was helping much. Looking at his sandcastle, Liam could admit that it wasn’t anything to be proud of. Liam still felt like he’d accomplished something though. He’d left his comfort zone to do something that would make him happy.
Wasn’t that the entire purpose of this move? To live the life that he wanted.
“You have a really good base,” Jude said. “I think you’re just adding a little too much water to your sand.”
Liam had to gape at him. “You know how to build sandcastles?”
“I’m not an expert but I’ve built a few in my day,” Jude said with a shrug.
“You want to help me?” Liam even batted his eyelashes, hoping Jude would agree. He sure didn’t seem like a man who would sit around playing in the sand.
Jude pressed his lips together and Liam was sure he would refuse.
He was shocked speechless when Jude knelt and reached for the bucket. “Let’s reinforce these walls.”
Chapter Six
Liam
“Like, he sat there and played in the sand with you?” Nicky asked.
Liam grunted. “Dude! You can’t stop pushing. I’m going to throw my back out.” He was going to be so sore the next day. The playroom was almost put together though. Nicky proved to be much better at putting things together than him. Nicky read the instructions. Liam, yeah, not so much. Reading instructions was boring!
“Sorry!” Nicky held up his hands. “Let’s get this dresser against the wall and then we’re done.”
“Pizza and movies?” Liam asked. He’d worked up an appetite.
“That’s the plan! Then after our bellies are full and we watch at least one shark movie, we’ll come play.” Nicky even clapped his hands in excitement.
