Page 49 of Tides of Love

He padded out to the pool, feeling the sticky humidity settle onto his skin. “Coffee?”

Lucky’s shoulders stiffed for a moment before his head lolled back to look at him. He held his hands up, accepting the mug carefully. Antonio put his own down on the stone before joining the omega in dangling his legs in the pool. Lucky held his mug with two hands, staring out beyond the back yard and out over the cliffs the district was named after towards the endless ocean. She’s dark and moody as the sky.

Antonio just sat there for a moment because words felt like a precious commodity he must ration. Or maybe it’s the moment that feels fragile and priceless in a way he couldn’t afford.

“They are giving us first dibs on the land at the base evaluation price.” Lucky murmured into the edge of the mug, closing his eyes as he took a long drink. Antonio swallowed slowly, letting the coffee sear his tongue just to give himself a moment.

“How much?” Because moments and words might not have an actual monetary value, but land does.

“1.2 million.” The number is hardly a whisper, like the taste of it is bitter. He holds the mug so tightly, Antonio thought the handle might snap. “We can’t afford it. They know that. It’s a gesture of good will but it’s not enough… it was never going to be enough. A symbolic gesture, a month to try and raise funds for an amount they know we can’t reach. For what? To stop everyone from being so angry?”

He absorbed the words and the accusations that linger in the sticky, suffocating humidity.

“When I joined the SAR team, there were only four other volunteers besides Mateo and I. Two of them were older women who founded the team because they had lost children in the horrific floods from years past and no one was around back then to even pretend to help. Not in an organized way. But we had no funding.” Antonio looked at his reflection in the water pool.

“I always wondered how the SAR unit grew…” Lucky took the topic change for what it was, shoulders slumped like he was anticipating a pep talk he knew would go nowhere.

“This is my childhood home, I think I mentioned… Though renovated and updated.” Antonio gestured behind him, “My mother comes from a wealthy family. Old money in Spain. When my grandfather realized I would not be coming to her home country, and when he learned I had found a project to dedicate myself to, he granted me a significant sum of money. If the island couldn’t afford to finance the SAR team, and if money was truly the thing holding us back… I knew what to do.”

He squeezed Lucky’s shoulder, “And I know what to do now.”

“What…?” Lucky’s brow furrowed before his jaw went slack, “You can’t possibly…”

“It’ll put a hole in the budget, but I have some ideas for refilling that. I’d like to make a donation to the Marine Center, if your father won’t mind?”

Those bright blue eyes he adored go misty with tears. He barely had time to set his mug aside before Lucky threw himself into his arms. Lucky doesn’t ask if he meant it, doesn’t even bother pretending not to want this gift.

“Thank you.”

A flurry of things happened after Antonio’s suggestion. He had to call the trust, his mother, and Mateo. The latter simply because they were joint partners in the SAR team and moving this amount of money out of the budget needed to be done with his friend’s consent. He was immediately laughed at by Mateo and told to do “Whatever your little rich boy heart desires, we’ll fill the hole down the road. It’s not like you’re draining the account.”

Half was still a big number…

The reassurance helped. He felt a little less crazy speaking to Mateo about it. His friend would have told him if the plan was stupid.

From there, it was easy. He gave authorization to move the funds, and it would take a little time to transfer but there wasn’t anything else to do. A simple fix for a solution that had haunted them every step of the way… Antonio felt awkward accepting Teague’s thank you call.

“I didn’t do it for the gratitude I just…” He stumbled over his words, speaking to the man he admired yet realizing he didn’t do it simply because he cared about the island or the turtles or even the guilt of Lyrica Beach.

“You did it for Lucky. That’s as good a reason as any.” Teague’s voice was warm.

“I don’t want him to feel pressured, this isn’t anything other than a gift.” Antonio let the words tumble out in a rush.

For his efforts, he got a hearty laugh from the other end of the call, “I think he’ll just see it as proof that he picked someone with the same values as him. And someone who sees his work—his passion—as something important. Don’t think so hard, just be proud of yourself.”

It took several seconds of swallowing to work out a “Thank you” before he ended the call.

Antonio found Lucky in his bedroom, which was quickly becoming their bedroom from the drawer of Lucky’s things and the toiletries in the bathroom. He stopped in the doorway to appreciate the scene. Lucky was pulling up his swim bottoms, the curve of his ass so beautifully on display it made his mouth water.

“Done with your calls?” Lucky asked, lips curling in an amused smile as he caught Antonio’s eyes in the mirror.

“Yeah… yeah.” He cleared his throat, “Everything is set. The money will clear in a few days and then Teague will handle the rest.”

“Feels almost too simple.” Lucky gave a small laugh, shaking his head. He changed out of his t-shirt into his tankini.

“Going for a swim?” It still looked like it was going to rain.

“Thought I should put the pool to use, move my body in some way. You just changed the game by dropping a bunch of money and I feel…” Lucky shook out his hands like he was trying to shake off a feeling. Then he cleared the room to bury his face in Antonio’s chest. Antonio wrapped his arms around Lucky.