the longest summer in america - jevin

chapter 8

"how on earth did you even find out about his place?"

ian flattens the corners of the beach towel on the sand and chuckles at the wonder on jaden's face.

"i saw it while i was on a walk the other day," he smiles when jaden unceremoniously flops down on his own towel.

"of course you just happened to find the most beautiful beach by mistake."

it is a really nice spot, if ian says so himself. they had to walk for a good while and then climb down a rickety ladder to reach it, but here the sand is soft and the water is crystal clear. there's only enough space to set down a couple of towels and comfortably spread out, but it's perfect.

"i wanted to come with..." ian hesitates, then sighs. "with nick. but he was always too lazy, so we never did."

jaden scoffs and takes his shirt off by yanking it up from the middle of his shoulders. "i would take you anywhere, if it made you this happy."

ian goes wide-eyed and fakes a cough just to avoid answering that. he starts digging into his bag, but he can see that jaden is just as flustered out of the corner of his eye. his hands finally wrap around the plastic bottle he was looking for, so he busies himself with opening it and lathering his arms in sunscreen.

he comes to a point where he has to take off his shirt as well, so he does and covers his own chest and back as efficiently as he can. jaden lies serenely in his spot with his hands crossed behind his head.

ian ignores him, but he can't stop the embarrassed smile that spreads on his face. he glances at jaden for just a second and finds him already looking back, so he quickly looks away and clears his throat.

"do you want me to do you?" he asks jaden before he can think of a better way to word it.

jaden smirks and rolls over onto his belly, head propped up on his hands. "sure, a retouch wouldn't hurt."

ian can still see the streaks left on his back from when he must have put on his own sunscreen and couldn't properly spread it around, but he still takes the bottle and upends it, giving it a couple of hits on the bottom to let the lotion come out.

what looks like half of the contents splashes on jaden's back. jaden yelps and ian lets go of the bottle, which ends up falling on the back of jaden's head with a loud thump.

"ow," jaden complains, but he's laughing at the same time.

"i'm sorry!" ian scrambles to clean as much as he can with his hands. "well, you're extra protected now."

jaden keeps chuckling and ian feels it under his hands. it's in that exact moment that he realizes he's basically been kneading jaden's back freely. his hands stop for a split second, then he goes back to massaging the lotion into the firm skin.

he probably lingers for too long, fingers sliding down the bumps of his spine and up his sides, over his ribs and along his shoulder blades. jaden has a satisfied smile on his lips, eyes closed and expression peaceful.

"are you gonna fall asleep?" ian raises one eyebrow.

"i would never," jaden frowns, but his words are already slurred.

ian rolls his eyes and sits down next to him, leaning back on his hands and dropping his head back with a deep sigh. there is still a dull ache pressing on his stomach, but he can ignore it if he tries hard enough.

besides, there is a lot to focus on instead of that. everything is quiet on this beach, the only sound coming from the small waves that come up to the sand, and the birds calling out every once in a while.