Page 5 of The Himbo and the Lord

I’m just contemplating whether or not to head back to his hotel, to see if I can find him, and wondering if it’s a good idea or not, when I’m drawn out of my reverie.

“So I’ve made a reservation at the Golden Lion tonight.”

“Huh?”

“For dinner. I made a reservation. I thought it would be a good chance for the team to meet outside of work, and we don’t want you to have to find your own entertainment on your first night here.” Cieran is so sweet, and itisgreat of them to arrange this. So I banish all thoughts of Nate out of my head, and try to concentrate on what I was sent here to do.

CHAPTERFOUR

Nate

One hour after waking up,I’m climbing into the Mercedes van behind my best friend, Seth, and settling into one of the middle seats.

“Good morning, Oliver,” I tell our driver with a smile as soon as I’m settled and Kit has closed the automatic sliding door.

“Morning, mate,” he says casually. I like that way better than the super formal way he greeted us when he picked us up at the airport two days ago. “Where to?” he asks no one in particular.

“We heard about this great breakfast place close to the Harbor Bridge,” Kit says from next to me. “Something about a big fry-up?”

“Ah, I know just the place.”

“Awesome,” Kit says. “And then we have to be at the bridge before ten for our time slot to go up.” I smile at the excitement in his voice. Our de-facto organizer loves it when we’re on schedule, and surprisingly, today we are.

“What time did you get back?” I ask him, and then turn back to look at Tony and Seth. They’d stayed at the club when I left since they all found people to dance with, and I’m sure to hook up with. I found someone too, as it turns out, and the memory of the stuffy Brit wants to bring another smile to my face, but I tamp it down. I want to hear about my friends’ night right now, not have them all clamoring for me to tell them how my night went.

Especially since I’m not sure what I’d tell them. Nothing happened with thelord, but if I’m honest with myself, I wanted it to, and I’m bummed that it didn’t. My friends would have no qualms about teasing me to hell and back about it. They’d never forget it, and they know me too well to figure out what happened the second I utter one word about it.

So I stay quiet while they tell me about their conquests. Kit with an Australian guy who I have to concede was even better looking than any Hemsworth, Seth with a girl this time—a gorgeous woman as well—and Tony with a couple who were more than happy to share him for the night.

They talk about it during the whole ride... and then during breakfast. They don’t even stop when we’re getting our harnesses put on by the instructor, and I’m about to ask for a subject change—something I never do—when they finally shut up. The view from the top leaves us all speechless, thankfully, and it’s only when we climb back down that Seth speaks again.

“That was fucking awesome,” he tells Kit and claps him on the back in silent thanks. Kit is the one who pushed for us to do more than drink and fuck on this trip, and it’s because of him that we see some awesome stuff over the next five days.

We go diving, we take a helicopter ride, we bungee jump into a scarily deep canyon, and we end every day so exhausted that we don’t go out to party during the week. I have to admit that I do get off on fantasies about what could’ve happened if the lord had been in a better mood on Sunday, but other than that, he doesn’t cross my mind once. I enjoy every single activity with my friends, knowing that after this trip everything will change.

We’re all going to start desk jobs come May—more than likely. I’m holding out, since the desk job my father wants for me is basically right next to his. I love my father of course, but working with him isn’t my idea of a happy life.

My friends are all going to start working too, and they all seem pretty happy—or maybe resigned—to do so. That’s something we don’t talk about much because... well, maybe I’ve been avoiding talking about that shit with them. Maybe I’ve even left rooms when they talk about their aspirations. And maybe it’s because it all bores the hell out of me.

I don’t want to do what I’m supposed to as far as societal standards go, and I know my father would have a coronary if I told him about my plans.

With that awful visual, I push thoughts of the future away and make an effort to enjoy every second of the trip with my friends.

On Friday we go to the zoo. The whole reason we chose to come to Australia is because Kit wanted to see kangaroos, and he saved it for our last touristy day in Sydney.

We’re going to spend next week in Melbourne, and we’re going to relax and party it up the whole time as far as I know. Though if Kit has something else planned for us, then I’m sure none of us will complain.

We all have to admit that the kangaroos are awesome, and we have fun seeing the rest of the animals, but we’re also pretty happy to leave once Kit has had enough of the pretty kangaroos—his exact words—because our next stop for the day is Bondi Beach.

We change into our swimming trunks in the van when Oliver parks, and then go get a quick bite before planting ourselves in the sand, ready to get some sun.

It’s summertime in this part of the world, and it’s freaking cool that back home it’s snowing but here I can’t spend too much time in the sun or I’ll risk looking like a lobster in one hour. I did listen to my mother when she told me to wear sunscreen.

In any case, no matter the temperature on the sand, the water is fucking cold and one after the other we try to go in then run back out.

No matter. I get plenty of admiring glances as I run to and fro, and Rupert seems like a distant memory right then. Later we’re going out again, and tonight I’m going to score for sure.

“Hey, one of the restaurants my sister recommended is just around the corner,” Kit says when the sun starts to go down. “How about we change in the van and go have dinner there?”

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