Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 70115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Though he’d been on the force for ten years at that point, there were older and more qualified men to take the job. Their loyalty to Sol kept them from stepping forward, and the old mayor had been more than happy to appoint the prodigal son. Having a police chief with the trusted Finn name in office was a popular decision, he’d claimed. He even had a running joke with the press about not having to change the sign on the door.
Solomon spent the next decade working to prove he was worthy of the opportunity, keeping the peace for the public and his officers the way he always had for his family. Keeping his personal needs to himself.
He’d done such a good job at compartmentalizing, that until he’d come out, the only people who knew about those needs were the strangers he’d picked up at bars outside of town. They never knew his real name or what he did for a living, and when he came back home, he never shared his experiences with any of his family or friends.
He kept the focus off of him and on everyone else so no one knew him. No one had any idea who he really was. Not the whole picture.
Hugo saw you. He knew you and you pushed him away.
Solomon stopped running so abruptly he almost stumbled. He bent over, hands gripping his knees and his heart hammering in his ears. “Shit.”
Just thinking his name brought up a painfully clear image of dimples and warm brown eyes. Memories forced their way through the temporary barriers he’d been placing in his mind all morning.
“Son of a bitch, I take it back,” William wheezed as his booted feet clomped toward him. “I’m humiliated and shamed and sold. I’ll start juicing tomorrow. You juice right? Liquefy innocent baby vegetables and sacrificial virgins for breakfast? That’s why you can run so fast at your age?”
He shot an irritated look at the muscular twenty-four-year old, but secretly he was grateful for the distraction. “Running usually clears my head. I don’t have a lifestyle. Or a juicer.”
Still red-faced, wintry blues eyes looked him over in frank curiosity. “Not working today then? The head clearing?”
“No, but it’s not your fault.” He straightened up and started walking. “One block left to the house. You coming?”
William followed in sheepish silence as Solomon wiped the sweat off his face with his shirt, his mind still on Hugo.
Hugo was the reason he couldn’t sleep. The reason he’d been stirring up his personal ghosts and torturing himself with the past for days.
The man was always in his thoughts, haunting him with might-have-beens. But lately it was getting worse.
Tomorrow is his birthday.
Hugo Wayne was turning thirty-eight, and he would be celebrating another year without him. Thriving without him. Possibly smiling at another man who was lucky enough to catch his eye.
Solomon had been that lucky once. Now he lived on memories of stolen moments. The sound of Hugo’s laugh and the soft, hungry groans he’d make whenever Solomon kissed him. The bright fucking faith in humanity that had him train to be both a healer and protector, excelling at everything he set out to do.
Solomon had been drawn to that and everything else about him since the first time he’d seen him with his brother, James, the year they’d graduated.
As cops, they’d drifted at the edges of each other’s lives for years. Hugo’s muscular six-foot frame, dark skin and intelligent brown eyes were the first things he’d noticed. And that smile. No one could resist responding to his smile or the dimples that made deep grooves in his cheeks.
Solomon thought about those dimples a lot.
Hugo also had a solid reputation in the community. People trusted him. Solomon had been impressed again and again by the passion he’d put into his work, and yes, now and then he’d allowed himself to imagine what else Hugo might be that passionate about.
Once he’d learned that he was gay, Solomon had already been attracted enough that he’d gone into self-preservation mode. He’d started spending more of his down time out of town, resisting his desire for the local man he worked with by hooking up with strangers that he’d never see again.
He might have been thinking about Hugo when he did it, but as long as he kept his physical distance, things wouldn’t get complicated.
Two years ago, it got complicated.
They’d worked together with a few others in his department to develop a weeklong de-escalation training program for the department. Its success and the mayor’s full-throated endorsement gave him the leeway to make some overdue changes.
Solomon knew bad practices were occurring with alarming frequency on a national level, and he refused to let the people under his command fall victim to it. He needed someone who cared and could think outside of the box, and the opportunity was too important to pass up due to his personal attraction, so he’d tasked Officer Wayne to lead a handpicked group to create a more cohesive community outreach program. On his end, he increased department evaluations and required refresher courses on nonviolent protocols and interpersonal skills.