AllFreeNovel
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Yeah, he was always busy, but he knew that was just an excuse.
His phone rang, and he laughed.Maybe Toby hasn’t mellowed allthatmuch.
Then he saw it was Alli.
Sol stabbed atAnswer. “Hey.”
“Hey yourself. Is this a bad time?”
“You’re good. What’s up?” They usually called each other every two to three weeks. “How’s the painting business?”
She chuckled. “Painting makes it sound like I splash paint on walls. I am anartist, sweetheart.”
“Does it pay as much as house painting?”
She laughed. “It paid off the mortgage so I can’t complain.” A pause. “I’m calling about Thanksgiving.”
Sol went quiet.Aw shit, here we go again.
“Sol? You still there?”
He forced himself to be patient. “Sis, it’s August. Can’t we even get Labor Day out of the way before you start planning Thanksgiving?”
“Uh-uh. I’m tired of you saying you’re busy. So I’m putting my request in early.”
“I can’t plan that far ahead,” he lied, trying not to look at his schedule.
“Yes, you can. And the invite includes whoever you decide to bring with you.”
He retreated into silence again.
“Sol… When did you last go on a date?”
“None of your business.” His tone was harder than he’d intended, but hell, this was not the first time they’d had this conversation.
“Then I’m going to assume you haven’t dated anyone since—”
“Stop.” Sol’s stomach clenched. He took a couple of deep breaths. “Okay… One? I don’t do dates. I meet up with guys and we get up to pretty much everything you can think of. Not gonna go into details, because I believe we did that once, and I don’t think you ever recovered.”
Or looked at me the same way.
“Yeah, thanks for that.”
“Two. Dating implies the possibility of romance. I don’t do romance.”
“But you did.” Alli’s tone was soft.
“That was then.”
Don’t go there, Alli. Please.
He didnotwant to talk about Liam.
“Sol… ever heard the phrase ‘Lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice’?”
He let out a snort. “That’s bullshit because it does. And I don’t intend to be there when it happens. The only way to truly avoid that is by not letting myself get into that situation again.”
He didn’t need romance.
