Chapter 40: One Dollar

The bungalow stood on stilts over water so clear that Jude could count the fish from the bed.

On the ninth morning he did.

"Eleven," he said.

"You said eleven yesterday."

"They're the same eleven. I've named them."

Ken lay on his stomach beside him with his chin on his arms, brown from the sun and entirely naked.

"What's the big one called?"

"Bernadette."

"After the cow?"

"She came to our wedding. She deserves a fish."

Ken laughed into the pillow.

They had done almost nothing for nine days.

They had swum, and slept, and eaten mango at midnight with their fingers.

Jude's phone sat in a drawer, and Ken's had not been charged since the second day.

On the deck outside, a red tin sat on the table in the sun.

Jude had packed it in his carry-on without telling anyone.

"Is that what I think it is?" Ken asked, lifting his head.

"Later."

"It's empty."

"Later," Jude said, and slid a hand down Ken's back, over the long muscle and the dip at the bottom, and squeezed.

Ken's eyes closed.

"You said later."

"I said that about the tin."

He rolled onto his side and kissed Jude, slowly, lazily, with morning breath, and neither of them minded.

Then Ken's hand slid under the sheet, and found Jude hard already, and wrapped around him.

"Fuck," Jude breathed. "You're awake."

"I've been awake. I was watching Bernadette."

"Liar."

"I was watching you watch Bernadette."

He pulled Jude out of bed by the wrist.

They walked, naked, through the glass door to the outdoor shower on the back deck.

It had a wooden screen and a rain head, and a view of nothing but ocean.

Ken turned the water on, and it came down warm.

"Nobody can see us," Jude said.

"A seabird can."

"Let him."

Jude pushed him back against the wooden slats and kissed him under the water, with his hands in Ken's wet hair.

Ken's cock was thick and hard against his stomach.

Jude reached down and took them both in one fist and stroked, and Ken groaned into his mouth.

"Turn around," Ken said.

Keep reading free with an account. Start He Took Jude's Money, Ken Won His Heart from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.