Read Just Ask for Free Online Page B

his foot. He ignored it, knowing the water was ahead.
    Ryan drew closer, breathing in rhythmic pants, limbs churning as he pulled even. Shit. Jordan turned up the speed a notch, calling forth the pent-up energy, the steam he’d held inside for so long. His feet hit sea foam and then water. He dove shallow, arms stretched out, sucking in a deep breath as he went under the warm waves.
    Jordan burst from the water, feeling like a sea god or something fantastical. He laughed, one of pure joy, something he hadn’t felt in so many years. Not since Blake had been well. He glanced around to find Ryan ten feet away, a little behind him, a cocky grin on his face.
    Jordan had won, and it felt better than any deal he’d ever sealed. He felt more alive. Invincible. “Well? Did I win?”
    “Yeah, but I let you.”
    “Fuck you. We’ll go again then. I want to win fair and square.”
    Ryan laughed and splashed in Jordan’s direction. “It’s only beer. I think I can suck up losing for that.”
    “I don’t want some mercy win. You’re going to be miserable when you fail teaching me Relaxation 101. I was a shitty student.”
    “Then it’s good that I’m very patient and a great teacher. Skilled enough to get you naked and into the water, natch.” Ryan kicked off and swam a bit in strong, flawless strokes.
    “Natch?”
    “Naturally. Or of course. Learn the cool lingo, dude,” Ryan called out as he kicked and dove, then surfaced a few feet away in the moonlight.
    Dude, indeed. Jordan sank into the warm water and followed Ryan, swimming out a bit, relishing how the water felt on his naked body. So freeing, his cock and balls floating in the most delightful way. Then Ryan’s head disappeared under the waves. “Ryan?”
    Jordan touched his feet down into the sandy bottom, the water chest-high, and searched the moonlit waves for signs of Ryan. Jesus, he had to be okay, right? He spun, looking around, then back out at the horizon where he’d last seen his dark head.
    Something grabbed his calf.
    Jordan jumped and bit back a strangled something—not a scream. He wasn’t a girl. Images of great white sharks flashed before his eyes, right before he realized whatever had fingers.
    Ryan surfaced in a shower of salt water, laughing, droplets of water beading in his hair, on his chest, sparkling in the moonlight. “Let me guess. You were thinking shark, right?”
    “Hell, no.” Asshole, yes . Natch .
    “All tourists think shark the minute a piece of seaweed brushes them. It’s normal.”
    It didn’t make Jordan feel any less like a pussy. “What are the chances of being attacked by a shark?”
    Ryan floated on his back, his cock bobbing to the surface, curving tantalizingly away from his firm body. “You have a better chance of winning lotto and dying the next day, as if you’d need the money from lotto.”
    “You’re no poor boy, McCale. I know what you make off this island.”
    “Makes my life look even better, doesn’t it? I swim naked every day, ride horses, and make a killing.” Ryan flashed a cocky grin as he backstroked around. Jordan guessed Ryan sunbathed nude, too, from the depth of the tan he had going. No white lines on his hard body, none that Jordan could have seen in the torch light up on the porch.
    Jordan never wanted to touch another person so badly, not male or female. Ryan was beautiful in the moonlight, if a guy could be considered as such. Jordan wanted to touch him, hold him, and discover what it felt like to have those arms wrapped round him.
    “You need another challenge.”
    Jordan waved the water around with his hands, liking the way the gentle waves lapped at his nipples. This whole swimming nude thing was erotic as hell, and knowing Ryan was right there, just as naked, sent a fresh batch of blood rushing to his cock. “I think I’m at the trifecta of challenged right now.”
    “Gotta push the limits.”
    “Then kiss me.”
    Holy shit. Where did that come from? Jordan swallowed, wanting