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“When I was twenty-one, I was engaged,” Grady said. He sat down on his couch and ran a hand down his face. “To my… what do you call it? My high school sweetheart?”

“Yeah,” Lake said numbly. “Zach and Felix were high school sweethearts.”

“It was just a commitment ceremony, of course,” Grady continued, as though Lake hadn’t spoken a word. “Back then, it wasn’t legal for us to get married. I was standing under one of those stupid arches with fucking red roses twined in it. It had cost a goddamn small fortune. But he was fancy like that, and he liked things to pop and make a scene.”

The fact that Grady remembered it so vividly wasn’t a good sign.

Lake tentatively sat beside him. “What happened?” he asked quietly.

“He didn’t show up,” Grady said, looking down at his hands.

It took Lake’s brain a few moments to catch up to that. “He didn’t… show up?” He’d knownsomethingbad had happened, but for some reason being left at the altar hadn’t occurred to him. It was the biggest bullshit move in the history of bullshit moves, and he hadn’t even realised people did it for real and not just for dramatic effect in movies.

“I got left standing at the end of the aisle like a fucking idiot,” Grady said flatly. “He decided that he didn’t want to marry me and didn’t bother to tell me.”

Jesus Christ.“What thefuck?” How could anyone do that? And toGrady? Lake wasn’t generally a violent person, but if he saw the person walking across the street, he wouldn’t slow down. He was an incredible driver, so everyone would know he’d done it on purpose, and he wouldn’t have a leg to stand on, and he didn’t care. How could someone do that to a person they were supposed to love? Someone they’d agreed tomarry?

“I learned later, after I had to tell everyone that it had been called off and sort out the food, guests, and bookings, and so many other things that I’m sure I forgot to do something, that he’d been cheating on me with a friend of ours—a female friend—and she was pregnant.”

Lake hadn’t thought it could get worse. “I… I’m so sorry,” he breathed out. What anasshole.And then Mal had gone and cheated on him as well. No fucking wonder Grady was so twitchy. Lake’s heart hurt for him, for the beautiful soul that he was that hadn’t deserved any of that.

“I heard they had a shotgun wedding just before the baby was born and are still together now, living in Melbourne with three more kids.” Grady shrugged with his mouth. “It sucked at the time, and Idon’twish him well, because I’m not that gracious, but I don’t spend any time thinking about it.”

Lake could believe that. Grady was good at pushing away things that he didn’t think were worth his time. But he could still hear the underlying hurt in Grady’s voice. It had left a mark that likely still hadn’t healed.

“He didn’t even like women. And then suddenly he did.”

Lake pursed his lips, trying to parse everything in his mind. The point of telling him the story had been why they couldn’t try something together, but it hadn’t changed Lake’s stance. “Okay, I get it, I think,” he said because he did understand why even if he didn’t agree. “But unless he wentbackto men afterwards, my situation isn’t his situation. And I would never do that to you.”

“I didn’t think he would either,” Grady said bitterly.

Lake wished he could make any of the lingering pain go away, soothe the hurt, apply balm to the wounds. It had chipped away at Grady’s heart, and all Lake wanted to do was bandage what was left and care for it the way it should have been cared for all along.

He cupped Grady’s cheek and turned his head so that he could look into his gorgeous eyes. “I’m not him,” he said firmly, his fingers curling in Grady’s beard. “I’m not either of them. And I want you so badly Iachefor you.”

Lake didn’t know who moved first. All he knew was that one second, he was looking at Grady’s handsome face, and the next they were kissing desperately.

Grady hauled Lake up and into his lap as his tongue invaded Lake’s very soul. Lake groaned, wrapping his arms around Grady’s neck, his hands threading through his thick hair.

Holy shit.This was better than ice cream. It was everything he’d remembered from New Year’s Eve but so much better because there wasintentin this kiss. Because Lake was in it now, in a way that he hadn’t been then. Because Grady had sunk deep inside him, and Lake wanted to exploreeverythingwith him.

Grady wrapped one arm around Lake’s back, securing him more firmly against his chest. This close, pressed so tight, it felt wider than it looked from afar. What would his chest hair feel like if they werenaked?

Lake needed to know.

He tugged at Grady’s clothes, pulling his shirt out from where it was tucked into his pants. He moaned into Grady’s mouth when he felt the rough fur on his chest.Why was that hot?He’d seen Grady shirtless after so many nights and mornings spent together, but he’d never been able totouchit before.

Grady’s hands slipped up under Lake’s shirt, his fingers skimming Lake’s lower back. His skin was onfire,and he wanted Grady’s hands everywhere. He tugged his top up and over his head before discarding it on the floor behind him. “Touch me,” he begged. He wanted to feel it,neededto feel it.

Grady splayed his hand over Lake’s collarbone. “You aren’t wearing your chain,” he rasped.

“Forgot to put it on,” Lake said absently. He didn’t always wear it. He couldn’t wear it while he was in uniform, and he must have left it in his locker. Why were they talking about this?

And then Grady’s hands were skimming down Lake’s chest, sending ripples of intensity across him, and he forgot all about it. How were Grady’s hands so hot? It was like they were covered in flames.

“It’s like being dropped in a pot of boiling water. I’m a lobster but without the dying part.”

Grady barked out a laugh. “What?”