Sunkissed Summer

  Sunkissed Summer

  Brocation #1

  Gwen Martin

  Contents

  About The Book

  Sunkissed Summer

  Newsletter

  About the Author

  Contact and Follow

  Acknowledgments

  Also by Gwen Martin

  About The Book

  Can a vacation hookup between friends go the distance?

  * * *

  Marco Flores hits Miami Beach with his closest friends and longtime crush, Kieran.

  He’s delighted to spend time with Kieran, even if sharing a bed with him is hell on Marco’s heart — and other parts. Until he discovers the attraction is mutual, and they give into desire. More than once.

  Marco can’t stop wondering what happens when the vacation ends and they go their separate ways. His fears could ruin a magical time — and a friendship — unless he finds the courage to tell the truth: He wants more than a vacation fling with Kieran. He wants everything.

  Sunkissed Summer is a 20,000 word stand-alone novella containing two best friends taking advantage of close proximity and only one bed. Expect shared showers on the down-low, low-angst laughs, steamy adventures and one very deserved happily-ever-after.

  Copyright © 2019 by Gwen Martin

  All rights reserved.

  No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the author at this website:

  www.gwenmartinauthor.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, businesses, companies, locales, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons, living or dead, is unintentional and co-incidental. The author does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  Cover Art: Cate Ashwood Designs

  Copy Edit: DJ Jamison

  Beta: Susan Buttons

  Marco Flores was not a violent person. He’d never so much as thrown a single punch in his life. But right now, in the small confines of his Ford Focus hatchback, his best friend, Carter, was seriously testing his restraint.

  Turn right in two hundred feet, brotha. So fly.

  “You got it, Snoop,” Carter cooed at Marco’s phone.

  Somehow, Carter had changed the GPS navigation voice while Marco was pumping gas during a pit stop on their road trip. It had been five hours of nothing but Snoop Dogg’s smooth, low tenor — and Carter flirting back.

  Thankfully — for Carter — Marco was too distracted to ditch him at a truck stop with nothing but a tube of his Speedos and the directive to find his own way to Miami Beach for this getaway with their friends. His mind was a little too full of Kieran Thompson.

  Kieran, with his sandy blond hair that somehow always made Marco want to brush his hand through it. Kieran, with his brown eyes that crinkled in the corners when he smiled and made Marco’s heart hammer and swoop like he was taking a sharp turn on a rollercoaster.

  They hadn’t seen each other in over six months, not since Kieran’s going away party. Marco could still remember the look of shock on Kieran’s face as he’d walked into the bar to see all of his closest friends and family waiting to wish him well on the yearlong traveling nurse contract he’d landed. A contract that had taken him away from Florida and planted him all the way in Chicago.

  That night, Marco had tried hard to ignore the sour feeling in his stomach about Kieran leaving. He’d given perfunctory smiles and congratulations because he was proud of his friend, and he did want his hard work to pay off. But it didn’t mean he wanted him to move a thousand miles away.

  That was the night Marco realized he’d waited too long. That the years of flirting, along with teasing from their friends about how they should date, had expired. Kieran was going to lands unknown, to a big unknown city with big unknown people, and Marco was being left behind.

  “Don’t forget to turn right,” Carter said, affecting a tone that was strikingly akin to their navigation guide. “Snoop gonna be very disappointed if you let him down like that.”

  Marco blinked out of his thoughts and quickly flicked his turn signal up, turning right down the long road toward their Airbnb. It would be five days of beach waves, clubbing, and, more than likely, too much alcohol.

  He hoped he had brought enough clothes for the trip. Marco hardly had time to pack that week and found himself scrambling just hours before he had to pick up Carter. It wasn’t out of laziness. His role as the lead project manager for an e-commerce startup company had required him to oversee his team through a new rollout . Which meant he had been chained to his desk in his at-home office.

  Marco slowed the car down to a casual roll, listening for Snoop to announce they had reached their destination. The Airbnb was a single-story, peach-colored house with a single-car garage and well-manicured front lawn. Two cars sat in the driveway, the doors and trunks open. Bags and coolers were strewn along the concrete path leading to the front door.

  “Well, here we are,” Marco muttered, parking behind a blue Outlander. He inhaled a fortifying breath, hoping to calm the nerves that thrummed under his skin. Marco nodded to the insane number of suitcases and bags in the back of the SUV. “Looks like Eli brought half his wardrobe for this trip. Doesn’t he know we’ll basically be hanging out in board shorts?”

  Carter snorted, unbuckling his safety belt. “Eli didn’t get the memo. Maybe he’s trying to rebound since he broke up with Bella, you know?”

  Marco nodded and began helping unload their stuff from the back. Eli had been with Bella for two years before they fell apart. He was pretty mum about the details, but they all got the memo quick when Bella moved on not even two months after their breakup.

  The front door stood open, a Steve Aoki album playing somewhere inside of the house.

  “Hello?” Marco called, dumping his bag in a tiny formal living room where everyone else had done the same. The house was spacious and bright, with sunshine cascading through its many windows.

  A roar of laughter echoed down the hall. Marco and Carter followed it to the kitchen, where everyone else had gathered. All of his best friends in one place. Marco couldn’t help but smile.

  “Well, there you two are,” Eli said.

  He was leaning against the counter, holding a beer, looking happy and carefree in dark blue bermuda shorts and a white tank. Stepping forward, he hugged Marco tightly, slapping his shoulder as he withdrew.

  “How’re you?” Marco asked quietly.

  Eli smiled faintly. “I’m okay, dude. Things were a little weird, but it’s fine. Bella and I talked, and it’s better that we broke it off. We’re better as friends.”

  Carter greeted Devon with a hug, already telling him about pranking Marco with Snoop’s navigation. Devon tilted his head back and laughed brightly, shaking his head in disbelief.

  “You’re an asshole,” Devon said with a grin.

  “Aw, come on, you love me!” Carter protested. “That’s why we work so well living together!”

  “Firstly, we’ve only been living together for, like, two months, and secondly, you suck at putting the dishes away.”

  Carter waved a dismissive hand and rolled his eyes. “Oh please, that’s what dishwashers are for.”

  “You don’t even put them in the dishwasher!”

  Devon and Carter continued bickering like an old married couple while Marco spun arou
nd, instantly taking note of who was missing.

  Kieran was supposed to be flying in earlier that afternoon. Marco wondered if his flight was delayed or if there had been a change of plans and Kieran wasn’t coming after all. Before he could ask, his heart sinking at the thought he might not see Kieran after all this time, Devon shoved a beer into his hand.

  “You look like you need this,” Devon said with a good-natured smile. Strands of wavy brown hair hung over one of his eyes, longer than the last time Marco had seen it Devon shook it out of his face.

  Marco took a pull of his beer and noticed that everyone’s eyes were on him. A tingle of uncertainty shivered down his spine. He swallowed hard. “What? Did I miss something?”

  “Yeah,” a deep voice said behind him. Marco whirled to find Kieran leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest, long body stretching out in front of him. His dirty blond hair was tucked behind one ear, and his brown eyes bore into Marco, a smirk curling the corner of his mouth. “You missed the announcement.”

  Marco did a quick survey of Kieran’s tight black V-neck T-shirt and burnt brown chinos. He wasn’t wearing any shoes, because Kieran hated shoes. He looked incredible. Marco’s throat tightened and his mouth went dry.

  “Um,” Marco started and cleared his throat. His neck was very warm, and the beer bottle in his hand suddenly had the weight of an anvil. “What announcement?”

  The smile that grew on Kieran’s face was the exact smile that Marco had been missing for six months. Six months he longed for that smile, and there it was, incandescent and wonderful.

  “Oh, that we have to share a bed together.”

  “I cannot fucking believe you didn’t tell me,” Marco hissed to Carter as he settled into the beach chair next to him. There was a smattering of chairs spread out underneath their canopy, along with a cooler filled with beer and snack foods. “You had several hours to at least drop a hint.”

  Shortly after Kieran had dropped the bomb about bed sharing, the guys declared it time to hit the beach. They had beach access within walking distance from the rental house, which was the singular basis of its appeal. As the rest of the guys gathered up their bags to get ready, Marco had followed Kieran into the room they would sleep in.

  Together.

  Under the same sheets and everything.

  For five whole nights.

  It was normal for the guys to buddy up on group vacations to save on costs, but normally they discussed logistics after everyone arrived. Not this time. Marco wouldn’t put it past his friends to play matchmakers, but a heads-up would have been nice.

  The guys had been gracious enough to give them the master room, but the bed was only full sized. Which meant they’d be close, skin touching close, with no room for pillows to create an illusion of personal space. Marco didn’t know if he was thrilled by the idea of such close proximity or afraid his body might betray him.

  “Yeah, it’s small,” Kieran had remarked, setting his duffel onto the mattress. Inside sat perfectly folded stacks of clothes. He was always so fastidious. “You don’t get handsy in your sleep, do you?”

  Marco had barked out a laugh. “Depends on what I’ve had to drink. Why, are you against handsy?”

  Kieran’s gaze roved over Marco, all the way to his feet and back up again. When those dark brown eyes locked onto him as Kieran slid the tip of his tongue over his bottom lip, Marco couldn’t hold in the shiver that rattled through him.

  “With you?” Kieran had murmured, his voice dark and silky. “Not at all.”

  Now at the beach, Carter heaved a beleaguered sigh at the admonishment breaking Marco out of his thoughts as he leaned back in his chair and tilted his head to the sky. He wore a pair of turquoise Speedos, his skin a perfect golden hue that made his six pack look even more defined. Marco didn’t know how the hell Carter got that bronze summer appearance, but he suspected spray tan had something to do with it.

  “Dude, seriously? Of course I didn’t tell you about sharing a bed with Kieran and his fine ass. You would’ve ripped me a new one the entire way to Miami, and it was a solid five-hour drive from Orlando.” He rolled his neck to Marco, tilting his glasses down, his blue eyes playful. “Besides, you know I need my own room for when I bring someone home.”

  Marco wrinkled his nose at Carter’s waggling eyebrows. “You’re ridiculous.”

  “No,” Carter corrected. “I’m horny. They don’t call me Hung Harry for nothing.”

  Marco snorted. They had given the nickname to Carter when they were all still in college and living on the same dorm floor. Carter roomed with Devon, and Kieran with Eli. Somehow, Marco got lucky and wasn’t assigned a roommate during that first year.

  It was also in that first year that Marco’s feelings for Kieran began to develop. Kieran was always the brightest light in the room, taking Marco’s breath away. He’d never met anyone who commanded a group with such quiet ease. Even in the safe confines of Marco’s dorm, when the guys were hanging around, sneaking beer and playing video games, Kieran was impossible not to notice.

  After that first year, the guys all moved in together in a cheap house near the university. Kieran and Marco’s rooms were next to each other, and they often hung out. The rest of the guys always went on about how they’d make great boyfriends, but Marco had chalked it up to pairing the two bi dudes together.

  In truth, Marco had never believed it would be possible. He could give a litany of reasons why: It wasn’t smart to date a housemate, and the timing never seemed right. He also didn’t think Kieran saw him that way, anyway. He told himself that these reasons made up for why he didn’t pursue things further. And he told himself it was for the best.

  It didn’t stop the flirting, though. Or prevent Kieran from being the star of a helluva lot of jerkoff fantasies for Marco.

  While Marco and Carter kicked back with a beer, Kieran glided deeper into the ocean, paddling on his surfboard. The sunlight sparkled along the green-blue water, like tiny diamonds glittering all the way to shore. White caps tipped the large swells, making it perfect surfing weather. Seagulls also coasted close to the choppy waters, cawing and diving for food.

  Marco watched Kieran intently as he found a wave to ride. He popped up on his board, swirling through the crest with such elegance, like a paint brush against a canvas. His wet hair was plastered against his forehead, darkened by the water, his arms taut as he maintained position all the way to the shore.

  He was gorgeous.

  “Yeah, I don’t think you two sharing a bed will be an issue at all,” Carter mused.

  Marco ducked his head and tried to ignore the rush of warmth in his cheeks.

  “Not another word,” he muttered through the side of his mouth as Kieran and Devon walked up from the shore, carrying their surfboards. Rivulets of saltwater trailed over Kieran's bronze skin, and his board shorts hung low on his hips.

  Marco’s mind flashed to an image of pressing against Kieran’s wet torso, trailing his mouth along that damp skin before dropping to his knees to run his tongue along the dip of muscle on Kieran’s hips. He wondered if under the briny flavor of saltwater, he would taste Kieran too. Arousal flared throughout Marco’s body, straight down to his cock. He swallowed and carefully adjusted himself, setting an ankle on his knee to hide the evidence.

  “How’re the waves?” Carter asked cheerfully, unaware of Marco’s slight discomfort.

  “Incredible,” Devon said, setting his board down with ease. He grabbed for a couple of towels and handed one to Kieran before he dried off. “I haven’t been out in the water in a while.”

  “Well, that’s the whole point of brocation,” Carter said, lacing his fingers behind his head, stretching long legs out into the sand. “To have us bros get together and do the shit we can’t do because we’re proper adults now.”

  Kieran snorted, settling into an empty chair near Marco, who made a concerted effort not to stare as he brushed his fingers through his newly toweled hair. The scent of Kieran’s
coconut sunscreen filled his senses, and Marco closed his eyes, willing the sudden swoop of his stomach to calm down. “You hardly qualify as an adult, dude. You’re more like a big old man child.”

  Carter pointed a finger toward Kieran. “Shut yo face. Devon thinks I make a great roommate.”

  “He also says you have no idea how to clean dishes and that you’re fucking that chick who cries out like she’s dying every time you rail her,” Kieran countered in a bored voice. “Sounds like you’re doing something wrong, man.”

  “Wait, we need to focus on the more important thing here,” Eli said, grabbing beers from the cooler and passing them around. “Double H is actually banging someone...exclusively?”

  “The many wonders of Carter ‘Hung Harry’ Nelson,” Marco drawled. “His dick’s sudden ability to stay put in one place.”

  “Nah, you’re misunderstanding,” Carter countered, a devilish grin spreading across his face. He took a big gulp of his beer and slouched down in his chair. “I just fuck her more than the others.”

  “Never change, dude,” Kieran said dryly, shaking his head. “Who else would bring the entertainment on such occasions?”

  Carter heaved a dramatic sigh. “As the almighty Big Joe once said, ‘I’m not a playa, I just crush a lot.’”

  Everyone laughed, and when Marco chanced a glance to his side, Kieran’s gaze was directed his way.

  He couldn’t ignore how it made his heart flutter.

  At the height of a Florida summer, the evening was sweltering, so everyone packed up before they caught heat exhaustion and headed back to the house.

  Marco felt loose-limbed and relaxed, and was content to offer Kieran dibs on first shower since he’d been in the water. While Devon and Carter engaged in an aggressive game of rock, paper, scissors to win the right to the second shower, he wandered into the kitchen, where he found Eli putting the final touches on a cookout feast.