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  118 Unrequited | Abigail Roux

  would jeopardize everything they had slowly been building over

  the past week?

  Shane looked over at him, barely able to meet his eyes,

  and Vic swallowed against the sudden tightness in his throat

  as they locked eyes.

  “Vic?” Owen ventured uncertainly.

  Vic stared at Shane for several moments longer, not quite

  believing how much such a small amount of words could hurt

  him, and finally Shane could take it no longer and he looked

  down at the sand guiltily. Vic tore his eyes away and looked at

  Owen like he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

  Owen was staring at him disbelievingly, his mouth slightly

  open and his brow furrowed. “Is that… is that true?” he asked

  in confusion. “I thought….” He looked back at Shane and

  shook his head.

  Vic looked back at Shane, who had yet to raise his head,

  and he licked his lips nervously before nodding to Owen almost

  imperceptibly and whispering, “Yeah. Sort of.”

  Owen took a few tentative steps toward him, hugging

  himself tightly against the cool breeze as he struggled through

  the sand. “Why didn’t…? I never knew, Vic,” he said in a

  horrified whisper. “I never would have carried on the way we

  did if….”

  Vic turned fully to look at the man then. At one time he

  had ached for Owen to know this, ached for him to have the

  opportunity to reciprocate those feelings. He had ached to hear

  these things from Owen and know that all that time Owen had

  just not known how much he meant to Vic. This was exactly

  what he’d wanted to hear. A week ago it would have made his

  life complete, made him a happy man.

  But now he knew there were better things for him in life.

  119 Unrequited | Abigail Roux

  “How could you have known?” he asked Owen with a sad

  smile. “I never told you. I should have.”

  “Why didn’t you?” Owen asked as he came to stand just in

  front of Vic.

  Vic looked down at the moonlit sand and bit his lip.

  “If I had known I never would have…. I’ve treated you

  horribly, Vic, for you to have loved me. If I had known…,” he

  repeated helplessly. He trailed off as he looked at Vic, his blue

  eyes full of such regret that Vic felt ashamed to have caused it.

  “I would have tried to love you back, you know,” Owen said

  finally. “Anyone could love you so easily…. I would have tried if

  I’d known it was part of the deal.”

  “Would have?” Vic asked curiously, feeling strangely

  unemotional at hearing these words he had wanted to for so

  long.

  “It’s too late now,” Owen said softly, his tone just as

  certain as if he had told Vic the sun was hot.

  Vic furrowed his brow in confusion. “Go after him, Vic,”

  Owen urged quietly. Vic’s head whipped around to find that

  Shane was nowhere in sight. He looked back at Owen in shock.

  “Take it from me, man,” Owen said quietly. “Don’t let

  someone special slip through your fingers just because you’re

  too blind to see it. He loves you. Even I can see that,” he said

  with a wry smile, and he accentuated it with a gentle shove.

  “Go after him, before he pulls a Vic and finds someone better,”

  Owen finished with a small laugh.

  Vic stared at the younger man with his mouth hanging

  open and his eyes wide with surprise. Owen was right. If he let

  Shane walk away now, the other man would never believe that

  he had been anything but a second choice, a backup when

  Owen had failed to say the words Vic wanted to hear.

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  He turned to scan the house and beach and then looked

  back at Owen urgently.

  Owen pointed over Vic’s shoulder, down the dark beach

  where Vic could just barely see the light material of Shane’s

  shirt moving slowly away from them. He looked back at Owen

  once more, not having the words or even the emotions to

  express what he was feeling. He had loved the other man for so

  long, it seemed, but had he really been in love with him? Vic

  couldn’t possibly be sure now. What he was sure of, though,

  was that he wanted Shane. He wanted him more than air.

  Owen gave him one last smile of encouragement and Vic

  ran his fingertips along the side of Owen’s face.

  “Thank you,” he whispered with difficulty.

  Owen nodded and made a little shooing motion with his

  fingers, and Vic turned and broke into a run down the beach.

  He slowed when he finally came close to where Shane was

  now standing. It had been a long, hard run in the soft sand,

  and Vic was more out of breath than he had thought he’d be.

  Shane was standing in the surf, staring out over the water

  and looking at the gorgeous reflection of the moon on the

  fretful sea with his hands stuffed deep in the pockets of his

  shorts. His short-sleeved shirt was unbuttoned and flapping

  lightly in the gentle night breeze.

  Vic found himself a little speechless. The other man was

  stunning, and Vic wanted nothing more than to be able to call

  him his own for the rest of his days. Shane heard him

  approach and turned to look at him in shock.

  “He’s an even bigger fool than I thought,” Shane said

  bitterly as Vic came up to stand beside him. “If he doesn’t want

  you for the rest of his life, he’s a fucking idiot.”

  “He does,” Vic said with difficulty. “He does want me.”

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  Shane looked at him sideways briefly and then returned

  his eyes to the water, swallowing hard and smiling sadly. “Then

  what are you doing here, huh?” he asked, putting on a brave

  front but not fooling Vic for a second. “I gave you privacy,

  right? Go take what you’ve earned, Vic.”

  “I don’t want him,” Vic whispered, holding his breath as he

  waited for Shane’s reaction. Shane turned to look at him

  slowly.

  “I thought you loved him,” he said carefully, his voice

  edged with confusion and what may have been hope.

  “So did I,” Vic said with a quick nod. Shane frowned and

  Vic looked at him intently. “I was wrong, though,” he

  continued.

  Shane shook his head and opened his mouth, frowning

  further in confusion and trying to formulate words.

  “I don’t understand,” he finally said in a lost voice that

  made Vic want to hold him close and never let go. “For years

  you’ve mooned over him, and now that he’s willing you’re

  changing your mind?”

  “Yes,” Vic said immediately, a little shocked at how sure he

  felt about it. He looked over his shoulder back down the beach,

  saw Owen standing there unmoving where he’d left him, and

  regardless of the feelings he had harbored for so long, Vic knew

  that right here with Shane was where he was supposed to be.

  “A few kisses,” he murmured as he peered through the

  darkness.

  “What?” Shane asked in confusion from behind
him.

  “You said a few kisses would change my mind,” Vic told

  him as he turned back around. “You were right. I kissed you,

  and you kissed me back,” he said, taking a deep breath. He

  licked his lips nervously. “If I were to love you, Shane,” Vic

  122 Unrequited | Abigail Roux

  ventured tentatively, his heart pounding and his breath

  impossible to catch as he looked into the washed-out green of

  Shane’s eyes in the moonlight, “would you love me back?”

  Shane stared at him, unmoving and not even breathing as

  he stood there. Vic held his breath as well, waiting for an

  answer.

  Shane looked down slowly, his hand reaching out as he

  did so to tug at Vic’s limp fingers. Vic’s eyes followed the

  movement, watching in confusion as Shane twined his fingers

  with his and pulled Vic’s hand until Vic was forced to take a

  little step forward.

  “I’d be a fool myself not to,” Shane whispered as soon as

  their faces were just inches apart.

  Vic caught his breath, barely able to believe what Shane

  had just said, and then his lips twitched and spread into a

  slow, delighted grin. Shane held his hand tenderly, much the

  same way he had held it in his sleep before, and with a shy

  smile he closed the distance between them and kissed Vic

  gently, the chaste kiss soon turning into a more demanding

  one as Vic pulled Shane’s body to his.

  They held each other close, overbalancing in their zeal to

  celebrate and toppling to the wet sand.

  They snickered happily as they heard an impressive wolf

  whistle emanate from down the beach, their mouths unwilling

  to part even as they grinned and giggled and listened to

  another of Owen’s teasing whistles.

  “How’s he see us, from all the way over there?” Shane

  murmured between hungry kisses.

  “Your shirt glows,” Vic said succinctly as he wrapped his

  arms around Shane’s body and vowed never to let go again.

  “Now stop talking.”

  123 Unrequited | Abigail Roux

  “Do you always nag this much?” Shane murmured in

  between slow, languid kisses.

  “It’s not nagging. It’s ordering. You’ll find out soon enough

  who’s boss here, Your Honor,” Vic said cheekily as Shane

  enveloped him in strong arms and kissed him hard to shut him

  up.

  “I’m sure,” Shane murmured into his mouth. “If we drown

  out here, it’s your fault,” he added as the waves lapped at their

  feet.

  Vic grinned in the moonlight, looking up at Shane with a

  wicked glint in his eye. This felt right, as Vic had known it

  would. Vic could definitely do this for the rest of his life.

  Don’t miss these other titles by Abigail Roux

  http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  Abigail Roux was born and raised in North Carolina. A past

  volleyball star who specializes in pratfalls and sarcasm, she

  currently spends her time coaching middle school volleyball

  and softball and dreading the day when her little girl hits that

  age. Abigail has a loving husband, a baby girl they call Boomer,

  four cats, three dogs, a crazyass extended family, and a cast of

  thousands in her head.

  Visit her blog at http://abigail-roux.livejournal.com/.

  Unrequited ©Copyright Abigail Roux, 2009

  Published by

  Dreamspinner Press

  4760 Preston Road

  Suite 244-149

  Frisco, TX 75034

  http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the

  authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Cover Design by Mara McKennen

  This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of International Copyright Law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon

  conviction, fines and/or imprisonment. This eBook cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this eBook can be shared or reproduced without the express permission of the publisher. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press at: 4760 Preston Road, Suite 244-149, Frisco, TX 75034 http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/

  Released in the United States of America

  September 2009

  eBook Edition

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-61581-051-2

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