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“Although I think you haven’t put on an ounce of fat since then. What’s your secret?”
Sol laughed. “I don’t think I have one. I work out three, four times a week, I swim…”And fucking is great for the figure, especially that deep V.“You’re looking pretty good yourself.”
Talk about an understatement. The initial sight of him had pressedallSol’s buttons, and learning Butch was into guys had lit a fire in him.
“Still can’t believe you’re here. I mean, what are the odds?”
“I know, right?” Sol cocked his head. “So I guess this means we can actually tell your coworkers we know each other?”
Butch’s brow furrowed. “I don’t know about that… How would I explain not saying anything before this? I’d look like a real asshole.”
“Tell them you didn’t recognize me at first. Tell them I’ve lost a shitload of weight since high school. That would work.”
“I guess.” Butch leaned against the wooden pillar. “So… What did you do after high school? College, right? That was all planned, wasn’t it?”
This had to be the most surreal conversation ever, but if this was how Butch wanted to play it…
“Yeah. I did my degree, then took qualifications in counseling.” He couldn’t leave it at that. “Myatonement, if you like.”
“Sol…” The word was almost a growl. Those eyes bored into him.
Those same eyes that had sent illicit shivers down his spine when he was seventeen.
Sol held his hands up. “Okay, okay. How long have you been here?” He could play it safe.
“Thirty-four years. The boss’s dad took me on.” Butch glanced at his surroundings. “Salvation is my home.”
Sol frowned. “You meant it? You really haven’t been home since then?”
“Nothing to go back for. They’re better off without me. Deke’s probably running the farm.”
Christ, what happened?
Sol had known Butch and his old man didn’t get along, but it sounded as though there’d been an irrevocable split. As bad as things had gotten with his own parents, at least Sol managed to get back there now and then.
“What about you? You’re in San Francisco now?”
“Yeah. Been there four years.” Sol forced a smile, although his stomach churned.
“You get home much?”
He hadn’t been home as often as he would have liked, but that was down to his parents. Losing Liam had caused a rift between him and them, and although they’d mellowed a little over the years, their illogical reaction still rankled.
“Not as often as Alli would like.”
Butch smiled, and it transformed his face, revealing the lingering details of the young man Sol had known. Butch had always been an attractive kid.
The man he’d become had left his youthful looks in the dust.
“I remember her. Pain in the ass.”
Sol laughed. “No change there.”
“You never married?”
“How did you know?”
Butch gestured to Sol’s left hand. “You’re not wearing a ring, and there isn’t a pale bit, so you’re not divorced either.”
