Brent huffed and nodded, then picked up speed. He needed to be in front. Let Evan be the gawker. He was more experienced with fantasizing about men and paying attention to what else he needed to do, anyway. Brent wasn’t at the multitasking stage of being actively queer yet.
His thighs burned as he turned what was supposed to be a hike into a trail run, but Evan—Ev—kept up like a boss. And when they burst out of the forest after fifty-nine minutes, the view was breathtaking.
“Well done,” Ev gasped.
“Fuck.” Brent doubled over, then slowly straightened up and forced himself to pace around and drink some water.
“You are a machine.” The other man put his sunglasses on top of his head, then peeled the front of his t-shirt up to wipe his face.
And Brent’s mouth went dry.
Evan’s body was straight out of his fantasies. Thick and muscled, dark hair swirling down the middle of his abs, disappearing beneath his waistband.
“You’re staring.”
He jerked his head up, bringing his gaze to guiltily meet Evan’s. “Sorry.”
“No need to be sorry,” Ev said huskily. “I’ve spent the last two days wondering if Jessica’s husband still found me attractive.”
“Do you call her Jessica?”
“Only when I want to rile you up.”
“I told her that you snarl at me.”
“Do I?” Evan laughed and dropped his t-shirt, covering his bare flesh. But the sweat-soaked fabric clung to his body, and that was just as good. He paused a beat. “Do you like it?”
“Fuck off, I don’t know,” Brent laughed with him. He paced to the edge of the path to look over the valley stretching below them. “This view is…something else. Wow.”
“I love it up here.”
“No kidding. And it doesn’t get busy, eh?”
“Nobody knows about it. So don’t start handing out the coordinates.”
“Your secret is safe with me.”
Evan bumped his shoulder against Brent’s. “I’m sorry I wasn’t careful enough with yours.”
“Ah.” He scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “Well, I was stuck in a dark hole and I wasn’t going to climb out on my own, so at least you handed a ladder to the right person.”
“She’s special.”
So fucking special it hurt. “I love her.”
“Yeah.”
“But I broke our marriage. And now we’re in a different place.” The more he said it, though, the less it hurt. “It’s not a terrible place, you know.”
Evan glanced sideways. “No?”
“I mean, she raved about the tacos.”
He chuckled. “Did she tell you that was a place I hadn’t taken anyone else to?”
“You’re just rolling out all the special treatment for the Dorans, aren’t you?”
That got a shrug. “Maybe I am.”
