Nick sipped his coffee and scanned the dining room, taking note of who sat with whom, how they looked, and which ones seemed the easiest to stir away from the group. It went well beyond a daily routine at this point. It was a habit that came as naturally to him as adding sugar to his coffee or spreading a thin layer of jam over his toast. Except that morning, something was different. No matter how hard he tried to keep his attention from focusing on any one person for too long, his thoughts kept drifting back to the couple sitting near the edge of the sand. Drew and Alec.

He hated that he knew their names. Once you knew a person’s name, you couldn’t help noticing said person every time your paths crossed. He could forget a face as long as he didn’t have a name, but now every single time Nick visited the dining room, his eyes immediately fell on Alec’s face. And every time he looked at the younger man, he saw something new. When Alec had very rudely barged into Nick’s cottage, he had been far more annoyed than aroused at the sight of the unexpected visitor. Hoping to at least salvage the evening, he had not-so-subtly hit on Alec, but either his charms went unnoticed or they were entirely unwelcomed.

Nick didn’t like that. He didn’t like it one bit.

He normally didn’t waste his time with twinks. Men like Drew usually caught his attention and held it for as long as he could allow. He liked big muscles, big dicks, and broad shoulders. He liked hairy chests and hairy legs and the mouth-watering scent of sweat and musk clinging to that hair. The waiter the day before had been a fluke because his mind had been on ...

Nick set the coffee down with a grimace. He was not going to let this ruin his entire vacation. He had worked hard and saved a lot of money to afford this trip, and he wasn’t going to let some twink get in the way of that enjoyment. In fact, he wasn’t going to spare the boy another thought. Let Drew and Alec enjoy their honeymoon. He had other things on his mind.

Alec had been remarkably calm about his little dalliance with Drew on the beach. There had been no shouting or anger. Alec had seemed more curious than anything, and his eyes had lit up at the mention of Nick’s bed. He hadn’t fucked two guys at once in quite a few years, and that had been one of his goals since his arrival. If he fucked them both, it would definitely make up for being forced to know their names.

Alec looked up and Nick quickly refocused on the table in front of him. But the slow smile on the other man’s face told Nick that he had noticed Nick staring at him. When Alec didn’t look away, Nick lifted his chin, meeting his gaze with a quizzical tilt of his eyebrow. Alec’s smile changed, and he ever-so-slightly tilted his head toward the restroom door. Nick watched as he stood, excused himself, and sauntered across the dining room. He took an unnecessarily circuitous route around the tables, and Nick noticed he wasn’t the only one staring at Alec’s ass. Curious, he glanced over to Drew, but the other man didn’t seem to care that half the dining room was gawking at his husband.

Husband. He supposed most of the men on the island were either married or in long-term relationships. The whole concept was foreign to him. He stayed out of the debates over gay marriage and civil unions, pointedly avoiding any discussion of it when it came up at work or among his small circle of friends. He also pointedly avoided weddings and anything that might potentially resemble a wedding. He couldn’t even really grasp why anybody would want to be married and tied down to one person forever. Clearly, he wasn’t the only one who felt that way. If Drew had been serious about his marriage, would he have been so close to fucking Nick right on the beach? If their commitment was so strong, would Alec be sashaying through the dining room without shame or apology?

Nick counted to one hundred after Alec disappeared and tossed his napkin aside. Drew was engrossed with a newspaper, his back to the bathroom door. Nick took a much shorter path through the dining area, ignoring the men trying to catch his eye. That was the one downside to being trapped on an island. In Los Angeles when he wanted a one-night stand, chances were pretty good he would never have to see them again. There were no awkward conversations the next day, no pathetic attempts at a second night together, or, worse than that, a real date. Here, his conquests were always lurking. Waiting for him to drop his guard so they could swoop in again.

Alec was standing at the sink when Nick slipped into the room. It was large and decadent, like everything else on the island, and cleaner than some people’s kitchens. Alec turned off the faucet, flicked his fingers to shake off the excess water, and reached for a towel to dry his hands. He didn’t look up or acknowledge Nick at all. Up close, Nick really had to admit that Alec was an extremely attractive man. Probably most people did dismiss him as just a twink or a plaything, but that wasn’t exactly fair. The first thing Nick had noticed when they met -- besides the man’s amazing audacity -- was the intelligence in his bright blue eyes.

Alec slicked his hair back from his face, gave himself one last look in the mirror, and then spun on his heel and walked out the door. His shoulder brushed against Nick’s, otherwise, Nick might not have been there at all. The door swung open on silent hinges then swished shut, leaving Nick alone in the brightly lit and subtly decorated men’s room.

“What the hell just happened?”

The question echoed off the tiles, but no answer was forthcoming.