Chapter 14

“Well,” I said, smiling. “We both seem to have survived that. How’d it feel?”

Matt considered. “Nice, actually.”

“Good!” I said. “What about something to eat?”

He nodded and turned away, heading to the kitchen. I had to adjust myself before I followed him. Thing was: I had gotten hard during the hug.

After the meal we had some vodka, not talking but still in a companionable silence, I thought. Occasionally our gazes would meet, and this time there was much less defensiveness on his part. Finally, after several shots each, Matt turned his gaze full on me and just stared. Then, tilting his head to one side, he said quietly, “You know, when I first saw you—was like—Florida sun had come north.”

I stared at him. “What?”

He chuckled. “Yeah, yeah. But I—mean it. The—sun here—sun’s never that bright, y’know?”

“Bright?” I still didn’t know what he was talking about. “You thought I was bright?”