Page 62 of Sapphire Storm

“Roman, I appreciate that you might feel this waynow,when you’re facing all these challenges, but—”

“Oh, God,” Roman whined, face in his hands. “Youappreciateit? Oh, God. I should have kept my mouth shut.”

Suddenly, there was a loud war whoop close by, and they bothjumped. Donnie’s SUV idled a few yards away as the man leaned out the driver’sside window. “Howdy, boys. We better hurry if I’m going to take us out past theharbor mouth so we can watch the sunset.” He made a wavelike motion with onehand. “So wrap it up and jerk each other off or whatever you guys need to do toget the bugs out of your asses.”

“Mix a few more metaphors while you’re at it, Sex Monster,”Ethan barked, grateful he was able to blink back the tears without wiping athis face.

“Bite me, Tolstoy.” Donnie grinned and turned for hisparking spot. “On second thought, bitehim.He looks like he wantsit.”

Then Ethan was left with Roman staring at him expectantly.“Do you want me to go?”

Yes,Ethan thought.

“No,” Ethan finally said. “You shouldn’t drive when you’rethis upset.”

Yeah, that’s it, Gramps,he thought. Romandeflated, as if he’d finished a race only to be granted a medal made ofaluminum foil.

“Let’s get on the boat,” Ethan added. “Come on, now.”

Only once he was headed down the dock toward Donnie’s slipdid it occur to him that he’d just addressed the man who’d poured his heart outto him as if he were a small dog. And he was following Ethan like one. Hisheart was hammering. He wondered if he’d just made the biggest mistake of hislife, not sending Roman away, not nipping off his genuine advance in the bud.Not giving them both time to see if this surge of emotion inside the man wasfeelings or just another storm that would blow over a soon as Ethan was out ofsight.

TheGolden Boywas a forty-five-foot sun decktrawler, three decks tall and designed for long, slow cruises and overnightstays. It was also Donnie’s home and had been for years.

Standing behind Roman as Donnie helped him aboard with onehand, Ethan placed one palm against the young man’s lower back to steady him,which sent heat shooting from his wrist to his shoulder. And all he could thinkduring the next few minutes of touring the boat wasOh, dear God. What haveI done? What am I doing?

The boat felt bigger than Ethan remembered, maybe because hewasn’t staying on it this visit and hadn’t been forced to cram his suitcaseinto the cramped forward berth. Some of the woodwork inside looked freshlyvarnished. He was always surprised by how orderly it was. When they’d firstmet, Donnie had known how to survive on the streets, and his first living spaceshad all looked like tornado touchdowns. It was Ethan who’d gone with him to thegrocery store and helped him stock the products that ensured a sanitarykitchen. Who’d taken him to the bank and showed him how to open an account.Who’d taught him how to cook something other than instant mac and cheese. Sincethen, reducing his life down to the size of theGolden Boyhad taughthis old friend how to be tidy.

“Wow,” Roman said as he studied the spacious seating area rightoff the galley. “I thought you said porn didn’t pay.”

“Honestly, this baby costs less than a house around theseparts,” Donnie called back. “And I didn’t exactly buy it myself.”

“What he means is he inherited theGolden Boyalongwith Parker Hunter,” Ethan said.

“Whathemeans is I’m a lucky son of a bitch,”Donnie corrected.

“Not luck,” Ethan corrected him. “Eddie loved you like ason, and you were good to him.”

Roman studied him.

“Eddie ran the studio when Donnie first started working forthem,” Ethan explained. “Eventually he let Donnie take over when his healthstarted going downhill. He left him the boat in his will.”

Donnie nodded, grinning. “Dude smoked like they were aboutto ban the things any second. Anyway, biggest prize I ever got in this life,and I never had to sleep with him for it. Probably ’cause he was a total voyeurand got off on watching me get with his other models, but whatever. A boat’s aboat.”

“And a house, apparently.” Roman fell suddenly silent.

Ethan moved a few steps toward him to see why.

On a display shelf atop a row of locked cabinets, a framedphotograph had stolen Roman’s attention—a picture of Ethan, Donnie, and Zach intheir younger days, after a hike down to Black’s Beach so they could spend theday cavorting with other nude sunbathers. Right before sunset, they’d set thetimer on the camera and wedged it in the sand a few feet from their towelbefore piling their bodies on top of each other like they were rolled-up rugs.Ethan was on top, so his was the only bare ass you could see, but all three of themhad been naked as the day they were born.

“You guys were hotties,” Roman said.

“Were?”Donnie hissed through clenched teeth.“Ouch. This guy’s tough.”

“Not what I meant,” Roman said quietly as he took thepicture down off the shelf. “Who’s that on the bottom?”

Zach’s half smile was muted. Shoulder-length, cornsilk hairspilled out from under his green and yellow Parker Hunter baseball cap. WhileEthan and Donnie both looked ecstatic to be playing out in the sun together inthe buff, their bottom layer seemed as subdued and pleasantly unreadable asalways.

“That’s Zach,” Donnie finally said after an awkward silence,moving to the picture. “First guy who broke my heart.”

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