He studied Jace and wished for a pencil or a paintbrush—would sketch him exactly as he was now, if that were an option. Capture that still new-to-him breadth of his chest along with the length of his legs. Shade each curve of quads that running had delineated. Smudge the fuzz of fair hair that water darkened at his pelvis with raw umber pastels. Draw the still-thick length of his cock with—
“See something you like?” Jace asked, his smile as bright as the specks of water he blinked away. He turned off the shower and grabbed a towel to dry off with, but he saw to Sol first, dabbing droplets from the tattoos on his chest. He dried Sol from new moon to full, his touch careful, as if worried he might smear wet ink. “I really like these on you.” He glanced up. “I remember the first time I drew them.”
“You do?” Sol wasn’t sure that he could have pinpointed where or when that could have been, Jace doodled them so often. “When was it.”
“It was in a science lesson.” Jace passed Sol his shorts, which he slipped back on, but he didn’t bother with his shirt. Jace didn’t dress at all, knotting the towel around his waist before leading his way to the kitchen where he headed straight for the fridge. He pulled out another sunshine-filled bottle.
“One of the teachers was off, so whoever covered for them wheeled in the TV to show a documentary about solar eclipses. The blinds were down, but the TV lit you. You watched the whole thing. Didn’t take your eyes off the screen once. I thought if you liked eclipses so much, I better learn to draw the sun and the moon fast. Then maybe you’d look at me the same way.”
Sol sat on a stool at the island, its quartz cool under his elbow, watching Jace pour two glasses full to brimming. “I don’t remember that.”
“I do.” Jace passed a glass of juice to Sol and drank his own in long thirsty gulps while still standing. Then he refilled it, drinking half before saying, “I was sitting across from you. To be fair, I never paid much attention in that lesson.”
“To the science teacher?”
“To anything. No point with you sitting opposite.” He took a last slow, considering sip. “To be honest, if I’d been a dog, it might have been kinder to cut my nuts off.”
Solomon Trebeck’s heart broke the night of his bi-awakening.
Fifteen years later, Sol’s back in Cornwall where it happened, single, shy, and oh-so lonely. Teaching art to kids wasn’t his life plan. Neither is raising a teenage nephew, but with no family left to support him, a live-in job at a boarding school becomes his life raft.
Problem: that life raft is sinking.
Solution: Sol’s first love could have the cash to keep it afloat.
Reconnecting with Jace Pascoe might save the school—the one place Sol’s nephew is happy. Asking for his help opens old wounds, but Jace helps to heal them, fusing Sol’s broken heart back together. However, Jace has his own shadows, no matter how brightly his smile dazzles.
Falling for Jace again could be so easy. It could also be a huge risk when neither of them plans to stay in Cornwall forever….
♥ Featuring sweet angst, hurt/comfort, and second chances for a shy heart, Sol is a standalone MM romance novel in the Learning to Love series with a fulfilling happily ever after. ♥
CON RILEY lives on the wild and wonderful Welsh coast, with her head in the clouds and her feet in the ocean.
Injury curtailed her enjoyment of outdoor pursuits, so writing fiction now fills her free time. Love, loss, and redemption shape her romance stories, and her characters are flawed in ways that make them live and breathe.
When not people-watching or reading, she spends time staring at the sea from her kitchen window. If you see her, don’t disturb her — she’s probably thinking up new plots.
FACEBOOK GROUP: facebook.com/groups/458421868222590
TWITTER: twitter.com/con_riley
INSTA: instagram.com/con_riley
BOOKBUB: bookbub.com/authors/con-riley
AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE: amazon.com/Con-Riley/e/B00F8GT35O
