Page 28 of On the Run
“Imagine, if you will, that I was a handsome lad of nineteen summers.” I decided I was willing to be three years older than Beale in this story, no more. “Charged with guiding virile young men on their adventures, as one does at Adventure Camp.”
“Ooookay, then. I’m gonna stop you right there,Trey.” Beale laid a hand on my shoulder and squeezed… rather hard. “Before you make this already weird story into aDateline-NBC-weird story. Yes, Trey and I know each other from camp,” he told his brothers. “It’s not a big deal.”
“We bonded over shared interests.” I sighed happily, settling into the lie. “It was magical.”
Rafe looked at me in my crop top and then at Beale, who was still damp with sweat from his run. “Which interests would those be?”
“Er…” Shit. Like Icarus, I had flown too close to the sun, and I was about to get caught. “Like…”
“Animal rescue,” Beale said smoothly.
“Animal rescue.” Rafe’s frown deepened. “Really?”
“Totes.” I nodded. “We save people from animals at all hours of the day or night. Especially murder cats. We live for it.”
“You mean we saveanimals,” Beale corrected.
Shit. “Isn’t that what I said? Ha. Silly me.Again. Yes. Obviously that’s what I meant. Beneath this current-season Calvin Klein top beats the heart of an animal lover.”
Beale shot me a look that said,You’d better not be thinking of steak au poivre when you say that, and I pursed my lips because maybe I had been and maybe I hadn’t, and that was none of his beeswax.
“God, it’s so perfect.” Gage pressed his palms together in front of his mouth. “You two fell in love because of animals.”
A giant noise like a record scratch filled the little pool house—or maybe just my brain—but all three of us stared at Gage simultaneously.
Love? Really? I felt like Gage had missed a couple crucial steps there. In fact, entire staircases.
“Are you high?” Beale scowled. “How the hell did you hear that story and thinkperfectandlove?”
“Well, not perfect,” Gage agreed. “You’ve been estranged for over a decade, knowing the world wouldn’t be kind about your age difference, but—”
“What? No. It’s a minuscule age difference,” I felt the need to reiterate. “Hardly anything, really. I’m quite young.”
Beale shot me a look. “Focus, To—Trey.Our age difference is not the point here.”
“Because it’s so small,” I told Gage in a low voice. “Negligible.”
“But it’s obvious you’ve carried a torch for one another all along, because you finally got back in touch!” Gage concluded. He bit his lip. “It’s maybe the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard.”
Rafehmm’dthoughtfully.
“Who are you right now?” Beale demanded. “Since when are you a closet romantic, Gage Spence Goodman? Where’s Mr. Algorithms and Science?”
“Sincenow.” Gage’s brown eyes were soulful. “Jesus Christ, Beale, I’m not heartless! Algorithms and science are beautiful, but love conquers all, and your story is like a fairy tale.”
“You know… it really kind of is,” I agreed, getting into the spirit of the thing. “Two men, torn apart by the whims of fate and the vagaries of life, finally reunited last night—”
“Yes! Only to find your connection is still there!” Gage pressed a hand to his chest. “Just like the first time you met.”
“Yes,” Beale said sourly. “Last night felt very much like the first time we met.”
“I can honestly say, I’ve never felt closer to Beale than I do right now.” I sighed and clasped Beale’s arm. “We’re like… whajamacallit? Soul mates.”
Beale’s muscles locked down beneath my fingers. Gage’s eyes widened. Rafe’s mouth dropped open.
“Ohhhh,” Rafe breathed. “NowI get it. You’re right, Gage, thisdoesexplain so much.”
“No!” Beale began, shaking his head wildly. “No, no, no. It explains nothing. It’s not—”
