Firefly Lane (Briar County 1)

Flying was going to take him away from all that.

And it had for a while. He’d worked hard to make his dreams come true, to put himself through school, but at forty-three, it wasn’t exciting anymore. It was just a job he had to do. But, it did keep him busy and didn’t allow that itch he got when he stayed in one place too long to build under his skin.

This was his last flight of the day, so after taking care of his duties on the plane, Holden was on his way to his Atlanta apartment. This was his home base, the city he’d gone to when shit went sideways with Marilee. He’d hated the small Virginia town they grew up in, but he’d stayed for her. Stayed, even when he’d run into his drunk father on the street, who’d try to provoke Holden into a fight. When around every corner unpleasant memories awaited, of being teased because of his parents and how they chose partying over him and his sister.

Still, even when he’d moved to Georgia, he never got rid of his Virginia cell phone number. He had no idea where in the hell Marilee was. They’d kept in contact some in the beginning. She’d gotten pregnant, had a baby boy Holden had only met a few times, the last when Sean was almost five. But when he kept pushing for her and Sean to come and see him, for him to go visit them, when he’d noticed Adam isolating her and didn’t keep his mouth shut about it, she called less and less, until the phone calls disappeared altogether.

He had no idea why he was thinking about that shit today.

As soon as he stepped into his apartment, his cell rang. Vince’s name was on the screen. They’d started out as a hookup, a random app trick, but had then become friends. They’d begun dating a little over a year before, and it worked with Vince. They got along well, the sex was great, and he didn’t push Holden for more than he wanted to give. They didn’t say I love you and had no plans to move in together. There were no huge talks about the future and no obligations. Holden didn’t have a key to Vince’s place, and Vince didn’t have one to his. They just were. He was lucky he’d found someone who wanted the same things he did.

“Hey, you,” Holden said.

“Hey, sexy. You home?”

“Yeah, I’m off tomorrow and then out again.”

“Want some company?”

Holden tossed his keys to the counter. “That’d be good.”

“Wanna go out, or you just want me to come over?”

“How about we meet for dinner at seven and then come here.” The second he said it, Holden almost wished he hadn’t. He used to love going out. Sometimes he still did, but others he just…fuck, he didn’t know. It was just getting old. Vince was into it more, so it was probably a good thing Holden had offered. Vince deserved that.

Vince suggested a restaurant, Holden agreed, and they got off the phone. He lounged around the apartment for a while, enjoying the peace and quiet. He wasn’t the kind of guy who liked a lot of fuss. He kept to himself.

Eventually, he jumped into the shower, then got ready to meet Vince.

When he arrived at the restaurant, Vince was already there and looked up at him with a huge grin. Fuck, he really was a gorgeous man—long, lean muscles, buzzed black hair, and just a little bit of gray in his beard when he had one. The first time Holden saw him, his immediate thought was that he looked like Idris Elba. Holden wasn’t the first nor the last person to think that about Vince.

“I’m fucking starving,” Vince said. “You look good. Tired but good.” It had been almost two weeks since they’d seen each other.

“Thanks. You look good too and not tired—which always feels like a way to tell someone they look like shit.”

Vince laughed. “Baby, you know I don’t mince words. If I thought you looked like shit, I’d tell you.”

Yeah, yeah he would. He liked that about Vince. When they eventually stopped dating, when Vince started looking for more, Holden hoped they would stay friends.

They talked and ate, then headed back to Holden’s place. They fucked twice during the night, the first time Vince giving Holden his ass, and the second Vince taking his.

Holden didn’t always sleep well, so while Vince was snoring beside him, he lay there awake. It was just after dawn when his cell vibrated. Holden frowned. If someone was calling him this early, it must be work needing him to take a flight.

He almost ignored it, but he wasn’t really built that way. He took care of his responsibilities because his parents never had, which had made everything a mess. In his forties, you’d figure he’d be over that shit by now, and mostly he was. He’d just learned a lot of lessons because of them, about how he did and didn’t want to live his life.