Chapter Text
Gaz was having a conundrum. Of course, between falling out of two helicopters, having just gotten rid of a corrupted American General, and then constantly having to deal with a cartel leader who couldn’t quite decide if she was the group Vodka Aunt or their worst nightmare…
When was Gaz not having a conundrum?
Whatever, Gaz was having a massive conundrum. The biggest conundrum. The worst conundrum. What was the origin of the word conundrum, anyway?
Focus, Gaz. The conundrum.
(The origin is unknown, but it was recorded as early as the 1600s so it’s an old word. It sounds like something that Shakespeare would make up.)
He and Alex had been dating for a while and the fact that he had only just put the pieces together, now, was honestly embarrassing. So embarrassing, in fact, that he just had to tell Price about it. Price was close enough to his dad and Laswell was currently with the aforementioned CIA agent on a mission for Farah. And, seeing as it was almost Christmas…
Well, it was November, but who fucking cares?
Anyway.
Gaz had waited until it was just him and Price at the ranch house before plopping down on the emerald green couch beside Price. He paused, touching over the material. He knew Rudy had picked all of the furniture and… damn. He had taste. It felt expensive. Fuck, it looked expensive.
Focus, Gaz! The conundrum!
“Sir, I need to talk to you about something.”
Price paused where he’d been reading a book, his reading glasses on, and he looked up at the wall. “Can it wait, Garrick?”
“No it cannot. It is fairly important. I am having a conundrum.” Gaz looked at Price, who didn’t move. He narrowed his eyes at the cover of the book. “The Twin Flames of Desire?” He raised an eyebrow, watching his Captain turn a deep dark shade of red. “Isn’t that- Isn’t that a firefighter erotica? That one that Soap was gushing over about the two firefighters who meet and charm that librarian? It turns out they’re both fucking and they want the librarian to join them as their third?” It was an MLM erotica. Gaz didn’t read many eroticas and, in fact, Soap had mentioned listening to the audiobook.
But, Soap had went over the plot in excruciating detail to Rudy and Gaz and Gaz remembered Price had been in the room, too. He hadn’t thought he was listening, though.
“Alright, alright!” Price dog-eared the page and put the book down. “You have my attention, Garrick.”
“Nah, nah, the conundrum can wait a minute.” Gaz shook his head. “I didn’t know you had such… proclivities, captain.” He chuckled, leaning back against the couch. “I thought you and Nik were rather… uh…”
“Oh, can it!” Price huffed. “I’m a 37 year old man, of course I have.. proclivities . Don’t be juvenile, sergeant.”
“My apologies, Captain, I’m just taking the piss a little.” Gaz laughed, finding how flustered Price seemed to be getting to be a little amusing.
Price rolled his eyes. “Don’t get cheeky. Just tell me the damn conundrum.”
“Right,” Gaz nodded and straightened back up. “But first… I have to tell you a story.”
Price groaned. “Gaz, can you just tell me the problem? I don’t have time for a story.”
“My apologies, I’ll just leave you with… what was his name? Damian Flame?” Gaz joked, making a motion as if he was about to stand.
“God, fine, you can tell me whatever story as long as you promise to never bring this up again.” Price rolled his eyes. “I found it in Rodolfo’s library, can’t you go tease him about it?”
“No, because that tracks for Rodolfo.” Gaz shook his head. “I doubt he’d even be ashamed over it. You, on the other hand….”
“The story, Garrick.”
Gaz laughed. “Right.” He nodded and sighed, trying to figure out where to start. “So… when I was 14, my foster family and I went to the states on vacation.”
-
Kyle looked around as his foster family went down to the beach. There were a decent amount of them, but most of them were teenagers at that rate. Well… Kyle was the youngest, so all of them were teenagers. He was 14, in fact, though he was pretty tall for being 15.
“Kyle!” His foster mother called and Kyle quickly jogged over, frowning.
“Yes?” He asked when he got close, watching her spread out a blanket. Already, his mind was counting his foster siblings nearby, seeing who all had already ditched them for the water.
There were 10 of them, total, but he could only count four, not including himself. Then he could spot the others scattered around the beach, already taking part in activities. It made sense, most of his foster siblings were more social than he was. Kyle was… well, a bit of an introvert. He didn’t mind it, but he definitely wasn’t going to find himself participating in volleyball or anything like that.
Definitely going to swim, though.
He turned to his foster mother before helping her use the cooler to weigh down the blanket, accepting a popsicle when she offered it. “Did you need anything else?” He asked, assuming she’d just wanted help.
“Yes,” she nodded. “You know how your sister is, I need to talk to the lifeguards about her accommodations.”
Kyle resisted rolling his eyes. One, because he did not think she had to do that, and two because of course she was getting him to do it. She knew he didn’t really like talking to new people, which was probably why she was asking him. He knew it wasn’t out of malicious intent, she just felt it was her duty to prepare him for the real world.
The real world… the mysterious other world that everyone kept telling him to get ready for. As if he was being sent on a rocketship to a mysterious other planet.
Kyle still nodded and said he would do it, turning and looking around for the little building the lifeguard resided in. Well, he spotted the tower first, before seeing that the building was built into it, and then he spotted the lifeguard.
His mind stuttered as his eyes caught on him. He was tall, quite a bit taller than Kyle, but seeing as he was clearly an adult and Kyle was only 15, that made sense. Blonde and toned and… bloody gorgeous. Oh no. Oh no no no.
Kyle knew he was gay. That… was fairly obvious. His foster family knew, too, and they had stated many times that they didn’t care. He didn’t necessarily just randomly tell other people, but he had the feeling it was fairly obvious.
He took a deep breath. “Mum, are you sure you can’t get David to do it?”
“Kyle, I asked you to. Just go talk to them and tell them I need to talk to them.”
Kyle did stop to question why she wasn’t just going to the tower and talking to them, herself, but he shrugged that off and took a deep breath. “Alright… I will.” He more mumbled it, doubting she even heard, and he finally took the first step.
His heart quickened as he approached the lifeguard’s tower and he glanced in the building, praying there was another lifeguard who was closer to his age or… not completely gorgeous in the building but… it was empty.
It made sense. He glanced around, noticing that the beach didn’t appear super busy, and so it made sense that they’d only have one Lifeguard. It was also Wednesday… He finally allowed himself to look up, glad to see the Lifeguard was not looking at him.
Instead, he was looking out at the beach through sunglasses. Aviators, he was pretty sure they were called.
“Um…” Kyle winced at how weak his voice was. “E-Excuse me!” He finally managed, turning dark red at how almost squeaky his voice was. God, this was mortifying.
However, it had worked because then the lifeguard was looking down at him and he was half grinning, dropping down in front of Kyle. Kyle quickly stumbled back, putting some distance between them and trying so very hard not to let his eyes wonder. “You need something?” The lifeguard asked.
Kyle clenched his hands into fists, forcing his eyes to look anywhere else, settling on an umbrella in the distance. “My um… My mum needs to talk to you. My sister, she has these accommodations-”
“Oh, cool.” The lifeguard nodded and then ducked into the building. Kyle leaned into the building, confused.
Kyle frowned and watched him as he sat down at the chair in there, noticing a computer. And that the building had a floor. Huh, he didn’t know they had like… things in them. He just thought they were little buildings for shade. He ducked back as the lifeguard looked at him, blushing dark.
“You can come in, kid.” The lifeguard laughed. “I don’t bite.”
Oh, that statement did embarrassing things to Kyle’s brain. His brother, David, would have likely responded with “ not even if I ask nicely?” But Kyle absolutely was not saying that. This was embarrassing. He peeked back in before shaking his head, deciding to go with the safe option and just not.
The Lifeguard frowned before shrugging and then he was grabbing a clipboard, sticking a paper in it, and coming back out. “Can you take this to your mom and then tell her I’ll come talk to her in like thirty minutes when my shift ends? Braeden should be here to relieve me and I’ll go over details so I can tell everyone else. Cool?”
Kyle blinked, staring at the clipboard. “Yeah, I can.” He took the clipboard, trying not to blush again. God, get it together, Kyle. He hugged the clipboard and backed up, watching the lifeguard go back up the stairs to the top of the tower. “Oh, wait!” He called before he could stop himself. “My mum will want to know your name!”
“Alex!” The lifeguard called back down, leaning against the rail of the tower, again. “I’m the only one on staff with that name!”
“Awesome.” Kyle mumbled and finally ran off to go talk to his mom again. He held out the clipboard when he got close to her, relaxing when she took it. “He’s the only lifeguard, so he’ll come talk to you when his shift ends in thirty minutes.”
His mom looked down at the clipboard and then shrugged. “What’s his name?” She asked as she got out a pen, starting to fill out the paperwork.
Kyle blushed. “Alex.” He liked having the lifeguard’s name. He knew there was no chance in hell but… At least he had a name. Alex. It was simple, likely something he’d find in his sister’s romance books.
He glanced back over at the lifeguard, seeing he was now talking to another lifeguard who had likely just arrived. Huh, he hadn’t thought it’d been thirty minutes, yet. But, as he watched Alex move, hating that he was able to pick up how his swim shorts hung off his hips a little, revealing a v-line that Kyle had to fight his mind not to take interest in.
God, the fucking sunshine was reflecting off his fucking abs…
Yeah, Alex was definitely the guy on the cover, too. He hoped Alex wouldn’t have too many shifts or else this summer would be torturous… He quickly looked away, turning dark red as Alex glanced at him. Fuck. Don’t be fucking obvious, you idiot.
He looked at his mum, who was continuing to fill out paperwork. Then he was being shoved, lightly, almost losing his balance. He huffed and turned to look at David, who was laughing. “Kyle’s got a crush.”
“I do not!” Kyle immediately defended.
David just laughed harder. “Yes you do! It’s so obvious! Anyway, I was coming over to ask if you wanted to come with me and these girls I just met to the surf beach tomorrow.”
“You don’t surf.” Kyle made a face. Neither did he, for that matter. They were both on the swim team, but… Kyle was planning to quit and David sucked at it. He narrowed his eyes. “And I’m guessing these are pretty girls?”
“They’re total fucking babes.”
“You’re british!” Kyle exclaimed. “You don’t even use that lingo!” He crossed his arms and then groaned as David put his hands together and made a pleading face. “Prick. Fine. We can go to the surf beach. But I’m not saving your ass if you fall off your board. What did you tell them?”
David winced, looking sheepish. “I may have told them… that I was a surf champion in England…”
“You. Don’t. Surf.” Kyle slapped his forehead, groaning.
“Well, I don’t plan on getting on a surfboard.” David shrugged. “I’ll charm them with my wit, and then they’ll never even notice that I’m not on a board. Besides, I just want to get with the main one. Look at her.”
Kyle looked to where David gestured, seeing a girl around their age. Well, David’s age, since he was 16, and seeing a blonde girl. She had obviously permed hair and she was… wearing hoops at the beach. Clearly, she didn’t plan on swimming, regardless, and her swimsuit was rather showy… Of course David went for that one. “You think you have a chance with her?” Well, he looked at David.
David had been adopted from Korea. However, he was as tall as Kyle, and he had a considerable amount of charisma. And a stupid amount of confidence. A dangerous amount of confidence. Kyle had watched him manage to get with girls way out of his league…
David grinned and puffed out his chest. “No. But I’m gonna try, anyway.”
“Great.” Kyle rolled his eyes. He yelped as he was suddenly shoved over, watching David laugh and run off. “Prick!” He called and brushed sand off himself, groaning. Falling in sand fucking hurt.
“Hey, you okay?”
Oh no… Fucking David! Kyle winced and looked up at Alex, who was offering his hand to help Kyle up. Kyle blushed dark, knowing David had to have done this on purpose. He hesitantly accepted the hand, letting Alex help him up and then quickly letting go and pulling away.
Alex smiled at him. “You good?”
He had his sunglasses off, now, and they were folded on the lanyard which had his whistle on it. Kyle blushed darker and quickly pulled his eyes up before he started to look at the skin around it. Alex looked concerned. “Did you hit your head?”
Kyle quickly shook his head. “No. Just fell on my back. Yeah, I’m fine.” He was not fine, this was embarrassing and he was going to kill David.
“Hello, you must be Alex.” His mum finally came over, catching Alex’s attention. She offered a hand, which Alex shook, and Kyle glanced around for David, seeing he was over by the girls again.
David grinned when he saw him and waved him over, so Kyle rolled his eyes and went over. “I’m going to kill you.” He muttered when he got close.
David laughed. “The girls,” he gestured around the group of four girls, and Kyle just sort of nodded at them, “said that that lifeguard that’s talking to Mom is a surfer, too.”
Oh no.
“Oh?” Kyle pinned David with a glare, getting an idea where this was going. “And what about it?”
“They said he should be at the surf beach tomorrow.” David grinned. “Apparently lots of the girls fawn over him, but he’s… you know…” He gestured.
“He’s gay!” One of the girls spoke up. Kyle noticed she looked a lot like Tiffany. Like… uncannily like Tiffany, who was standing right next to her. But, her hair was straight. “It’s horrible.”
Kyle knew they likely weren’t being homophobic, probably just lamenting that this meant he wouldn’t be interested in them, but he still had to fight hard not to say something. He looked at the sky for a moment before taking a deep breath. “Interesting.” He mumbled. “David, can I talk to you?”
“Yeah, sure.” David answered, so Kyle grabbed his arm and yanked him away from the group. “Ouch.”
“I’m going to kill you.” Kyle glared at him. “I need you to know that. Watch your fucking back this entire vacation because when you least expect it, I will be there.”
“Christ, okay, Batman.” David pulled his arm away and rubbed it. “Bloody hell. I was doing you a favor. Clearly you like him.”
“He’s an adult.”
“Ah! He’s just turned 18. Like a week ago.” David defended. “You’re 15 and a half! That’s only like… a two and a half year age difference!”
This was not helping Kyle’s resolve to kill David. “It’s weird.”
“Nah…” David grinned. “I’m just trying to be your wingman. Come on, mate, live a little.” He punched Kyle’s shoulder and Kyle resisted punching him. In fact, he had a very vivid image of it flashing through his head.
Kyle looked away, seeing Alex was now joking with his mom. Well… maybe it’d be nice to watch him surf. If he was with that group of girls, he’d likely just be able to pass it off as watching because they were. “Fine, fine.” He muttered. “But, on one condition.”
“Oh no.” David winced. “What is it?”
“You have to try to surf in front of everyone.” Kyle grinned, crossing his arms. “Then, I’ll come.”
\David groaned. “You’re fucking evil. Fine. Bloody hell… Pure evil, Kyle.”
Kyle stuck his tongue out before shaking his head. God, he was not looking forward to the next day…
-
Gaz jumped as the front door opened and he saw Rudy and Soap were coming back in. They’d been apparently hanging out. They’d invited Gaz along, but he hadn’t wanted to go.
“I’ll tell you the rest, later.” Gaz told Price, who had his head leaned back against the couch, his hat over his face.
“Sure, kid.” Price answered and Gaz got up to go ask Rudy and Soap what they’d done that day.