Page 27 of Need to Know

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And so, to begin our adventures! I led my excited, wide-eyed friend on a walk to the Tiergarten, a huge, five-hundred- and twenty-acre wooded park that stretched through central Berlin.

We rented bikes, and for a couple of hours, followed the tour map around the park, viewing the verdant gardens, lakes, sculptural monuments, and hidden pathways through the trees. We stopped at Haus der Kulturen der Welt, the venue for our première to see that preparations had already begun and posters were up. Our next stop was the Victory Column monument and together we climbed the two-hundred and eighty-five narrow steps to the top to be rewarded with amazing views of the city above the tree tops. I discovered Nate was an avid photographer, and he took loads of photos of the cityscape. Then he joined me for a couple of photos of us together that I’d add to my Instagram feed in a few days when we were officially supposed to be in the city. The viewing platform was in full sunlight, and the sun was relentless so I couldn’t see my phone screen. I stepped into the shadowed stairway, took a breath of cooler, mustier air, and scrolled through the images that I’d just taken of us together. I sighed out loud at seeing how sparkly-eyed, and happy we both looked. I turned and glanced over my shoulder across the viewing platform to where Nate was among a group of tourists vying for shots. A swirl of butterflies fogged my thoughts. Nate was a sight for sore eyes on the best of days, but here, now, out in public, being with him as a couple of ordinary dudes, I knew this was what being smitten felt like!

I’d secretly been in love with Nate Linden for longer than I cared to admit. I was adamant in Paris that I wouldn’t put myself in a position to be a rebound hook-up. But Nate wasn’t rebounding. He’d told me he was demisexual and he didn’t do hook-ups. He surely wouldn’t have started something with me if he didn’t feel more. The thought that this could be ‘something more’ terrified and thrilled me. Nate turned and caught me watching him; he smiled at me, his blue eyes flashing with familiarity and desire. I stepped out of the stairway and strode toward him, returning the smile, then took his hand and eased us through the crowd back towards the staircase.

“The view from up here is epic,” Nate enthused. “Where are we going next?” The staircase was empty as we began our single file descent and so I took my chance of giving into my desire, pushing Nate against the curved wall, and stealing a possessive kiss. Nate groaned into the kiss, but before we could get too hot and heavy, I heard the chattering of tourists as they made their way up the winding staircase. I pulled away and gave my lover a self-satisfied grin. Nate looked drunk. Glancing down I saw he’d chubbed a little from just one kiss. I hitched a brow “Nice.” Then I turned away and continued down the spiral staircase as if nothing saucy had happened.

“How about we rent a rowing boat for an hour?” I called out. Nate followed on behind and stuttered, “Uh, yeah, sure, let’s do that.”

The rowing boat rental site at Cafe am Neun See Bier garten wasn’t too far. The cafe sat beside a picturesque lake and for fifteen Euros; we rented a boat for an hour. I leaned back on my elbows, enjoying the sun and the scenery, which not only comprised of the nature, but the man in front of me in a figure-hugging tee, rowing the boat out into the lake. His t-shirt was clinging to his sweaty skin, muscled arms pumping as he rowed. He wore a huge dopey smile on his face, like a little boy on an adventure, living his best life. I’d honestly never seen him look more serene.

“I love the water,” Nate admitted when he met my curious gaze. “If acting hadn’t worked out, I wanted to go back to college and study Marine Biology,” he added.

“Really?”

“Yeah, the sea’s in my blood. My dad had a boat, The Mischief, and when he was home we’d sail most weekends. I loved it.” He paused for a thoughtful moment before revealing, “The boat was stolen, not long after dad died. It gutted me all over again,” he said before rowing on in silence for a while. I said nothing, letting Nate have his space. I draped my arm over the edge of the boat and my fingers trailed in the cool water.

“Dad used to call me Newt, that was my nickname,” Nate said all of a sudden. I met his gaze to see the emotions flickering in his eyes, love, longing, and loss.

“Why Newt?”

“I was swimming at three-months-old, totally at home in the water. Mom said I used to scream the house down when they took me out of the bath.”

“Cute, a water baby!”

“Yeah. When I got older I couldn’t wait to get to the sea. We’d travel to Seattle on Friday night, sleep on the boat, and set sail as the sun rose. Man, those sunrises with my dad—” Nate got a little choked up then and shook his head as if telling himself, no, don’t go there. He rowed on in silence again. I’d already known Nate’s dad had passed away some years ago. He’d trusted me with his pain, and I didn’t take that lightly.

“Hey, are you going hog the oars or let me have a go? I’m pretty damn handy with boats too!”

“You don’t like being chauffeured, my liege?” he grinned, knowing that I’d previously whinged about getting typecast as princes and lords. I wanted to straddle Nate’s thighs and kiss him into submission. But, there were other boats on the lake with families in them, and I didn’t want to scandalize anyone.

He stopped rowing and moved along the bench. “Team work makes the dream work!” he grinned. I couldn’t wait to get him back to the hotel tonight! We sat together, rowing in tandem. When our hour was up, we remained at the cafe for a cold beer and some tasty salad platters.

“I swear, it’s so chilled-out here it feels like another world,” Nate commented as he dragged a chunk of bread through a smear of salad dressing on his plate.

“New York is go-go-go 24/7. Sometimes I just want silence…you know? I just want to be in nature and enjoy the peace.”

“Did you grow up in the city?”

“Oh no, I was born in Portland, grew up in a small town called Wilkeson, it’s around an hour outside of Seattle. Big city life wasn’t normal for me growing up.”

“Then why do you live in a skyscraper penthouse?”

“I was young, naïve, and… guess I was seduced by Erik’s wealth and New York lifestyle. It was the kind of life I’d dreamed about but never thought for a minute that I’d live it. We set up our second home there because Erik…”

”Loves big erections!” I suggested.

“Well, yeah!” he smirked, “He told me once that he loves designing skyscrapers because they dominate the skyline and reflect his masculinity! I thought it was cool at the time, but thinking about it now it sounds a bit…”

“Wanky?” I prompted.

“Yeah,” Nate chuckled. “I suppose. I’m tired of sky-high living. My priorities have changed. The city doesn’t make me happy anymore.”

“I remember what a huge culture shock New York was for me. I felt like an ant among all of those tall buildings. It was nice to visit for a week to say that I’d been there, but it’s not somewhere I could live. I’m more of a nature boy.” I paused to take a sip of beer. “The sea’s in my blood too. I have this place on the Welsh coast, a fisherman’s cottage right on the shoreline that my taid left to me.

“Taid?”