Every muscle in his body burned and the pain was close to a level he couldn’t bear. Still he pushed. He paid for a private trainer so that he could get a man. At twenty-nine, he was lonely, and he grew tired of being just some in the dark fuck. His ass was good enough when he was bent over. The last man he’d slept with was two years ago when his sister had set him up on a blind date with a man she worked with and had appeared nice. Seemed interested in what he had to say.

“Focus, you want that gut gone. Another set of ten.”

The trainer’s hands were too tight, almost bruising around his biceps as the man pushed him to lift the weights. He struggled too hard, and he flinched as he felt twinges in his shoulders.

“If you’re not going to take this seriously, you can—”

“If you don’t get your hands off him right now, I’ll bury you.”

He flinched at the anger in Harmon’s voice, and he opened his eyes to find the trainer backing away. Harmon approached him and easily removed the weights from his hands, dropping them to the floor with a loud clang.

“He wants to lose weight. He has to focus. He’s thirty pounds overweight for his—”

“He’s fucking perfect is what he is.”

“Little, what the fuck is going on?” Livingston came up behind Harmon, but Harmon ignored the other man.

Gentle hands helped him to sit up and then eased him to his feet. Harmon worked his shoulders, and he whimpered at the soreness of his muscles, but Harmon’s touch felt so good. He didn’t know what it was about Harmon, but since the man kidnapped him, he couldn’t stop thinking about Harmon. The odd sweetness of the adorable man should’ve turned out to be impossible, but that’s exactly what Harmon was. He wanted Harmon, and he knew it was impossible. The fact of that saddened him. Yet, there wasn’t anything he could do about that.

“This fucker was making Poe lift more than he should.”

“Stu, is that right? You mistreating your client?”

“If he wants a six-pack, he’ll do the work-out my way.”

His face flamed and he lowered his gaze to Harmon’s bare chest. Sweat beaded in the curly hair and he had an uncontrollable urge to lean in to stroke his cheeks over the sleek skin and hair, just to find out if the hair was coarse or soft. He wanted to trace the lines on the skull that covered the front of Harmon’s throat with his tongue. Hell, he just wanted to lick Harmon.

“You want a six-pack?”

“Men like—”

“Not all men,” Harmon whispered as he stroked the back of his fingers across his cotton covered belly and pushed slightly into the jiggly curve. “Soft, I love soft.”

He glanced up to catch Harmon staring at his belly and where Harmon’s fingers rubbed in slow circles. That’s when he noticed the manly scent of sweat, a hint of something smoky and spicy. It was the same scent he’d taken in while they were in Harmon’s van a week before. He felt his dick start to react to Harmon’s closeness and the heat of his body, so he closed his eyes to think about anything other than climbing Harmon.

“Do you want to lose weight, Poe?”

“Yes, no, I just wanted someone to like me.” He didn’t know why he admitted that, but for some reason, he didn’t want to lie to Harmon.

“If someone doesn’t like you as is, baby, they ain’t worth your time. You shouldn’t hurt yourself, and that fucker should’ve known better. I saw the pain on your face from across the room.”

Harmon’s tone turned colder, and it sounded more dangerous than the rage of before. He needed to distract Harmon from getting himself into trouble.

“What are you doing here? I didn’t know you worked out here.”

“I don’t. We teach a self-defense class for abuse survivors once a week. Oh, you can meet Fielding.”

He couldn’t help smiling as Harmon jerked his head around and called over a man a few inches taller than him, well, average height for a man. He’d always been in the lower percentile for growth until he hit puberty and he’d gained weight instead of height.

“This is Fielding.”

Seeing the beautiful blond in person was different, the man’s pictures didn’t do him justice at all, and he realized the man was familiar. “You’re Fielding Hask—”

“Livingston now.”

“Weren’t you going to do some big blockbuster a year ago?”

“I found something more important.” Fielding’s smile was so sweet as the man’s big husband wrapped his arms around his thick waist.

“I told you that you could still do your acting if you wanted.”

“I know, Daddy, but that meant I couldn’t sleep in your arms every night and that wasn’t happening.”

The love between those two men was awe-inspiring. Livingston was big and muscular, and Fielding was slim and beautiful even with the slight belly.

“Do you want to go to lunch with us,” Harmon asked. “We’re just hitting the diner.”

“Are you getting dressed first?” he asked and let his eyes scan all that muscled perfection.

Huge, hairy pectorals flexed, and he grinned at Harmon’s chuckle.

“If I keep getting looked at like that, I might leave the shirt off.”

“Put the shirt on, Harmon.” His voice was strained at thinking of other people looking at him.

“Yes, Poe.”

No one ever called him Poe, it was always Solomon or Solo as a joke. His sister always called him Solo because that’s what he always said when she asked him if he was bringing anyone to family dinner or events she invited him to. His parents loved him, but they were outgoing and athletic, running marathons.

Harmon slipped his shirt over his head, and he regretted making Harmon put clothes on. He missed that dark skin and hair instantly.

“We have another thirty minutes to work out.”

He turned his attention back to Stu and took in the man’s annoyed expression.

“No, the work-out is done, and if he wants to work-out, he can ask me to train him. I’m not letting you anywhere near him.”

“You’d train me?”

“You can come out to my place—”

A gasp cut Harmon off, and he peeked around the big man to see Fielding’s eyes wide.

“You’re going to let someone come to your place? Your place?”

“Why can’t I go to his place?”

“Little won’t even let most people know his address. I think four people know where he lives and no one but Lily dares go over there.”

“He’s got a nice place.”

“Your person, Little?”

He held his breath as he waited for the answer. Would Harmon say he was his person? He knew it would never work, but he really wanted to be— “He’s a friend.”

He turned away and bent over to grab his bag to hide the hurt he knew was on his face. He didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of Harmon and the man’s friends.

“Come on, let’s go get some food,” Livingston ordered.

He straightened as Livingston dragged Fielding toward the door.

“If you don’t want to have lunch with us, that’s okay.”

“No, I want to, but if you don’t want me to come…”

“I do,” Harmon said too loud and sharp. “Sorry, my friends are weird sometimes.”

“You did tell me all those stories, so, I kinda got that.”

“Here, let me take your bag.” Harmon plucked the backpack from his hold.

A big hand rested on his lower back and nudged him forward. He let Harmon lead him in the direction of the door, and Harmon grabbed a small gym bag that Fielding held out to him.

“You okay with walking? We left our cars at the office.”

“A walk is fine,” he answered as they followed Livingston and Fielding.

The two men held hands and talked softly to each other.

“How did Livingston and Fielding meet? I don’t think that was one of the stories.”

“Fielding had a stalker, and a guy in L.A. who knew Linus, recommended us. Livingston was assigned as a bodyguard for Fielding.”

“So they fell in love?”

“Yeah, Livingston was going to let Fielding go after the assignment was over. Didn’t think it was fair to tie Fielding to him. Liv kept it up right until Fielding was about to get on the plane. He couldn’t let his boy go.”

“And they got married?”

“Several months ago.”

“I never thought about getting married, no, that’s not true, I’ve thought about it, but it just never seemed like it was meant to be.”

“You’re still young, what twenty-three, four?”

“I’m thirty in a few months.”

“I didn’t expect that.”

“Yeah, I’ve always looked a lot younger than I am. It’s a curse.”

“No, it’s not. You’re very beautiful.”

“Thank you for saying so, but I don’t see it.”

“You should, and I think I might say it a lot until you believe it.”

He couldn’t help it, he wrapped his arms around Harmon’s and hugged it to his chest. “You’re really sweet, Harmon, why are you single?” He felt Harmon flinch and glanced up to find the man’s face expressionless.

“No one wants to keep me for more than one fuck.”

“That’s bullshit. Any person would be lucky to have you.”

“You’d be in a minority of one.”

He was about to argue when he noticed Harmon was no longer looking at him. There was an oppressive sadness that seemed to weigh Harmon down. He’d noticed it. Just small details, when Harmon told Lily that he didn’t like Harmon much. When Harmon hadn’t wanted to let go of his hand. And in the van when Harmon said no one ever wanted to keep him.

He’d admit Harmon was a bit out there, but he’d love a chance at keeping the weirdly adorable man. Unfortunately, Harmon was determined that he was only a friend. He didn’t have time to say anything before Harmon ushered him into the diner. Harmon motioned him onto the bench seat of the booth first, same as Livingston did with Fielding.

“Little, Liv, Fielding, what are you three doing here during the day?”

“Just finished at the gym. This is Little’s friend, Poe. This is the beautiful Heidi.” Fielding answered as the man leaned into his husband’s side.

“Hi, Poe, I’ve seen you in here a few times. How did you hook up with these heathens?”

“Harmon kidnapped me.”

She just laughed and shook her head. “I can see him doing it. What can I get y’all to drink? Your usual apple juice, Little?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Heidi took their drink orders and left them menus. When she came back, he ordered a burger and fries like the rest of them. It would be the first real food he’d had since he’d taken Harmon dinner on the stakeout. While they waited for their food, Harmon stretched his arm out along the top of the booth seat, and he took a chance. He settled into Harmon’s side, and the big man seemed to relax at his weight. It was nice, and he enjoyed lunch with people he might be able to see as friends. Although, he didn’t want to be just friends with Harmon, he’d deal with it just to be able to be with him. The man made him feel good for the first time in a long while.