Forbidden Heat

“Please, follow me,” the mustached host said as he led them through a maze of hallways passing small groupings of tables in intimate niches along the way. “Is this to your liking?” he asked when he stopped at a booth in a niche of its own.

“Great. Thanks.”

“Could you bring us a carafe of your house wine? Our friend told us to be sure and try it,” Trey said.

“Right away.” The man hurried off, leaving them to enjoy the soft dinner music playing in the background.

“Nice atmosphere.” Jake picked up one of the menus the host had set on the table.

The waiter arrived with a carafe of red wine, two stemmed glasses, and a basket of fresh-baked bread. He set the bread on the table, then filled the glasses. Both Trey and Jake ordered the house specialty. The waiter scooped up the menus and went on his way.

“So what’s going on with you these days?” Trey asked.

“Since we’re into the summer session, I have a pretty light class load.”

Trey nodded. “Got the pool open?”

“Of course. You’re welcome to come over for a dip anytime.”

“Yeah, sure,” Trey said. “I’ll have to do that.”

But Jake knew it wouldn’t happen. Besides, he’d forgotten that Trey had a pool of his own.

The waiter arrived with their salads.

“What about you?” Jake asked.

“I went on a forty-mile ride last month.”

“Yeah? That’s not too long for you.” As long as Jake had known him, Trey had been an avid cyclist and often did lengthy trips.

“True, but Lindsay . . . the woman I went with . . . hadn’t done a ride that long before, so we had to ease into it.”

“Hmm.” Jake grinned. “A woman willing to go into training to be with you. Sounds serious.”

Trey shrugged. “I thought so, but . . . no. She ended it a week later.” He took a bite of his salad.

At the haunted look in Trey’s eyes, Jake’s heart compressed. He’d obviously cared about the woman. “Sorry to hear that.”

“No problem. That’s just me . . . looking for love in all the wrong places. Just because we shared a few interests didn’t mean it was a match made in heaven. Our personalities didn’t mesh well together.”

Jake had gotten the sense for a long time now that Trey had decided to leave his interest in men completely behind him and hoped to find a woman to settle down with. Start a family. Have a normal life . . . at least, one he didn’t feel he had to hide.

“What about you?” Trey asked. “I heard you were dating Rachel in the science department.”

“For a while . . . but that ended in April. Before that, I was seeing a guy named Rico.” It felt strange talking to Trey about his love life, but he tamped do

wn the awkward feelings. After all, friends talked about their love lives all the time, didn’t they?

“I heard that became a bit of a problem.” Trey grabbed a slice of bread from the basket and buttered it.

Jake pushed back stray stands of hair that had escaped his ponytail. Trey seemed to know a lot about his relationships. Was that friendly interest, or could it be more?

“Yeah. The guy was pretty emotional . . . and overly possessive. I finally had to end it.”

Trey nodded. “It’s tough out there. Finding the right person. Making a go of it. If you do find the right person, though, I’m sure it’s worth the effort.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Jake said, shifting his gaze to the bread as he picked up a slice and buttered it. “What about you? Do you think you ever will?”