Something had been happening in Skyler. A slow awakening, something that must have been happening on some deep level that he hadn’t even been conscious of until he looked at Craig as he swung up onto his horse.
He had discounted Craig, on some level. Had thought that he knew Craig when he didn’t. Although he had been pushing the awareness away, as they went, it was harder and harder to pretend that he wasn’t seeing what he was.
Craig had put the hat from his own head onto Skyler’s, blocking the cruel rays of the sun. And Craig was showing him around, something that no one had thought to do yet. Craig was taking care of him, not something that Skyler would expect from anyone like Craig.
But what did he mean,like Craig? Like the kids who had made his life hell in high school? That had been a long time ago, and some of those very same kids might have grown up and who knew? Maybe they even felt bad about it. And Craig hadn’t been one of those kids, anyway.
Skyler had misjudged Craig. He had known that before, had suspected it when they had danced together, but it was becoming more and more clear. And the more time they spent together, the kinder that Craig was, the more Skyler found himself noticing other things, too.
Like the deep, intense, brilliant sapphire of Craig’s eyes. Like the breadth of his impressive shoulders, the thickness of his arms, the compelling charisma of his smile.
Skyler found himself shaking a little as he looked up at Craig, looked deep, deep into his eyes, after Craig lifted him down from the horse. He did it as easily as a grown man might pick up a child. No one who had ever touched Skyler before had been able to break him in half so easily, but touched him so gently, instead.
His heart was beating fast, pulsing rapidly in his chest like a trapped bird against his ribcage. And he couldn’t look away from Craig. He could feel the shape of Craig’s strong hands against his sides like they were branded there.
Craig was the one who broke the gaze this time, though normally when their eyes caught, it was Skyler who glanced away first. Craig turned to do something with the horses, and Skyler still couldn’t look away.
The other man was so huge. It should have been intimidating. Malcolm and Logan were both huge, too, and they definitely intimidated Skyler a little. He had gotten over a lot of it, but he still kept a wary eye on them.
Not Craig, though. Craig had broken through all of that, and now, Skyler found himself actually admiring that very size which should have freaked him out. Craig was so much taller than him and could have thrown him around so easily, but he was a gentle, smiling giant.
From the back, his broad shoulders swept down into a perfect triangle, his waist narrow, hips slightly curved. And then that ass. Skyler had never found himself so completely unable to look away from anyone else before, but he found his fingers were itching with the desire to touch those smooth, firm, round globes.
Maybe it was this temporary insanity that had him reaching for his clothing. Or it might have just been that he was still so overheated from the ride out this way. Or was it that he wanted to know if he could get Craig to look at him the way he was looking at Craig? Most likely, it was all of the above.
For once, Skyler didn’t overthink it. He simply stripped down, invited Craig to join him if he wanted to, and waded into the water. It surrounded his body in a sweet, cool embrace, instantly releasing the heat from his body and rinsing away the sweat.
He ducked his head under the glassy surface, and by the time he came up, Craig was there in the water with him. He, too, had stripped down, and when Skyler glanced down, a little shocked by his own daring, he saw that Craig was in his boxers, too.
The creek was cold and deeper than he would have thought so that Skyler couldn’t touch the bottom but Craig could. There was a current, and Skyler found himself drifting with it, floating slowly away from Craig.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Craig asked, and he reached out, his enormous hand gripping Skyler’s upper arm. It was big enough that Craig could wrap it almost completely around Skyler. He found himself gently drawn back toward the bigger man, and as he was, he could barely breathe.
Water droplets were sparkling in Craig’s hair, on his cheeks, even clinging to his eyelashes. And Craig held him so easily, didn’t let the current take Skyler away, even though Skyler probably would have just let it happen. Craig kept them there, together, and Skyler had to wonder why, but he didn’t quite dare to ask.
“It’s nice here,” Skyler replied, a little inane, perhaps, but it was better than demanding what this meant to Craig, and why he was being so nice to Skyler, why he had been so nice from the beginning. It was probably just how Craig was. He was nice to everyone, at least that Skyler had seen.
“Yeah,” Craig murmured in reply, and his hand, still wrapped around Skyler’s arm, pulled Skyler closer. Only a few inches of water separated them now, and Skyler thought that he might actually pass out.
He had been kissed a few times in his life, even someone as clueless as he was hadn’t gone completely untouched. Every time, though, it had been a surprise to him. This was the first time that he found himself actually wondering if he was about to be kissed. The first time he was paying enough attention to the other man in question that he would notice ahead of time.
Craig was close, so close, and the water which supported Skyler meant that he was floating so that his head was much closer to the same level as Craig’s. It would be so easy just to close that little bit of room between them, to scoot himself closer, to put his hands on that strong body and anchor himself to him as their lips met.
He should do it. What was the worst that would happen? Some men, he would have been afraid of their reaction, but Craig wouldn’t hurt him. Even if it wasn’t welcome, Skyler knew that Craig would be gentle.
“Watch the current,” Craig advised, and then he moved away from Skyler, releasing his grip on his arm. It was like he had known that Skyler was nerving himself up to do it, and had saved him the trouble of doing it only to be rejected.
Which was a good thing, right? That Skyler wouldn’t have to make a complete idiot out of himself for someone that was and had always been, out of his league?
As he was brooding about that, a huge wave was sent rolling toward him, splashing him in the face. He sputtered and brushed water out of his eyes, only to see Craig grinning at him, completely unrepentant.
“You looked a bit upset about something,” Craig said, as Skyler shook the water out of his face. “What’s wrong?”
Skyler paused. He didn’t want to say that he wished that the kiss which had never happened, which Craig hadn’t even tried for, had been a real thing and not just a wild blip in Skyler’s imagination. That he was still wondering what it would be like to be held against that enormous form, to feel Craig’s lips part and his tongue press into Skyler’s mouth, probing deep.
“My sister’s getting married,” he said. Only it wasn’t exactly saying, more like blurting. If anyone had asked him if he was thinking about the whole situation with his sister, he would have said that no, he wasn’t, but it must have been simmering just under the surface this whole time.
“And that upsets you?” Craig asked. He could have so easily scared Skyler off. He could have said something cruel, or just thoughtless, but instead, he simply sounded curious. And against that, Skyler had no defense. He needed to speak to someone about this, and Craig was here and listening, really listening.
