Dinner with Tyrone turned out to be one of the nicest meals Jonah had in ages. Tyrone asked questions and talked about his life. It was give and take. Jonah had forgotten how to hold a normal conversation. It had been so long since he’d had one.

After leaving the noisy wing bar, Jonah spotted a tiny ice cream shack by the ocean and pulled to the side of the road. A smile stretched his lips when Tyrone looked his way with his eyebrows raised in question. “When was the last time you had an actual ice cream cone?”

A sexy laugh caressed Jonah’s ears. “You know, I don’t remember. Maybe when I was a kid.”

Jonah grabbed the door handle. “We should remedy that. What do you say?”

Tyrone’s smile made the impulsive move worthwhile. “Sounds great.”

They each chose a simple vanilla-chocolate swirl and headed for a bench facing the ocean. The breeze was nice, so was the view, but Tyrone’s body held Jonah’s attention. He looked good in jeans. Filled them out nicely. Jonah recognized he was trying harder than necessary to like Tyrone and forced his gaze away. Tyrone was nice, and he smelled good. Those things didn’t make Jonah love John any less, and that shit was unfair. For several minutes, they sat in companionable silence, staring at the ocean.

Tyrone finally broke it. “You have me dying to know your whole story.”

Jonah licked his ice cream before it dripped down the side of the cone. “What do you mean?”

A sexy-sounding chuckle escaped Tyrone, and he scooted closer. “I mean, you’re young and gorgeous.”

“Thank you,” Jonah said with a laugh, interrupting.

Tyrone kept talking over him. “Your car is a Jag that can’t be more than two years old. You own your own home. Most people I know my age can’t afford that car and a house payment, but you do. All this while going to Stanford. Yet, you’re unemployed. Do you come from money or sell drugs? What’s your deal?”

Only the laughter in Tyrone’s voice kept him from being offended. “To be fair, I quit Stanford. To answer your question though, I don’t come from money. In fact, my father died in a car accident when I was three. I don’t remember him at all. My mom never remarried and hasn’t spoken a word to me in five years, so no help there.” It was funny how he said the words so easily to Tyrone while John had been forced to drag the story from him. It seemed being the one who paid for dinner mattered after all. He didn’t feel lacking in the least.

“So, it’s drugs, then?”

A snort escaped Jonah before he could call it back. “No.” He blew out a sigh. The last thing he wanted was for Tyrone to think badly of him, but he wasn’t ashamed of loving John. “Have you ever heard of Green’s Fighter Fuel?”

Tyrone nodded. “I have some of their meals in my freezer.”

Jonah took another bite of his ice cream before plunging in with both feet. It was best for him to learn now if Tyrone would think he was a gold digger and run away. “I just got out of a three-year-long relationship with one of the owners, John Green.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah,” Jonah said, matching Tyrone’s tone.

Tyrone kicked his feet up on the railing separating the bench from the beach. He draped his arm across the bench behind Jonah. “So... what I’m hearing is, you like older men.”

A loud laugh burst from Jonah, forcing him to cover his mouth.

Tyrone didn’t let up. “Because, you know, I’m older and available.” That was true. Tyrone was older, but not by much. By Jonah’s best guess, Tyrone was in his early thirties. The other half of Tyrone’s claim still didn’t make sense to Jonah. He had to know.

“Why are you single?” Jonah asked, since Tyrone had opened the door. Jonah kicked through it like a cop on a drug raid. “You’re sexy and successful. It doesn’t make sense that someone hasn’t already snatched you up.”

“Honestly?”

“Of course.”

“I’m a workaholic,” Tyrone said, as if admitting a dirty secret. “It’s rare for me to not be on call. I’m passionate about what I do, and I haven’t met anyone who tolerates being second for long.”

A snort escaped Jonah. He tossed his unfinished ice cream in a trash can a foot away and swiped his fingers on his pants. “Hell, I’d settle for being fifth at this point.” Jonah pressed his lips together. No one could’ve been more shocked by the sudden confession than him. He loved John, and he’d been happy, but now that John was gone, Jonah realized John hadn’t been perfect. He pushed John from his mind. Jonah was here with Tyrone. John didn’t want him. Not anymore. Tyrone’s silence cut through Jonah’s thoughts. He turned his head and found the man staring at him as if waiting to have Jonah’s attention. He was closer than Jonah realized. Their faces were only inches apart.

“From what I’ve seen of you so far, you’re pretty damn amazing.” Tyrone moved closer. Jonah did too. As Jonah looked on, Tyrone’s eyes fell closed. Their lips brushed. Jonah’s heart skipped a beat.

Tyrone’s phone buzzed, and he leaned away with a growl. He checked the face. “See what I mean? A dog was just brought in from being hit by a car. I have to go.”

Jonah stood. “Do you need any help?”

Tyrone’s gaze moved over his features. “Are you up for that? It might not end well.”

“If that’s the case, then I’d hate for someone’s pet to pass alone.”

A sweet smile touched Tyrone’s lips. “You know, I think I could use an assistant.”

Jonah motioned toward the car. “As it happens, I’m free.” It probably said something terrible about him that Jonah couldn’t think of anything he’d rather be doing than heading toward an animal ER. That wasn’t one hundred percent true. There was one thing he’d rather be doing, but those days were gone. Jonah had to find something new to love before life killed him.

John banged on Jude’s door then shushed himself. “Shhh. Your brother has neighbors.”

“What the fuck?” Jude said, throwing open the door. He looked ready to tear apart whoever was pounding on his door in the middle of the night. His face cleared when he spotted John. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m a stupid, stupid man.” Even John heard the slur in his voice.

“Are you drunk?”

“Don’t leave him standing on the porch,” Hendrix said behind Jude.

John squinted, trying to see Hendrix. He could hear him but not see him. “There’s my brother-in-law. He knows. From the first time he set eyes on me, he knew I’m a stupid man.” Even John recognized he was repeating himself. He couldn’t stop.

Jude released a loud sigh. “Oh, for fuck’s sake. Come in.”

John tripped coming through the door. He quickly righted himself. “You have a little step up there I’ve never noticed.”

“Yes. It’s the floor’s fault.” John ignored Jude’s dry tone. Jude steered him toward the couch. “Would you like to tell me what’s going on?”

“I’ll put some coffee on,” Hendrix said, leaving them alone.

John fell across the couch and covered his eyes with his arm. “I’m a stupid man.”

“We’ve established you’re stupid. Can you expound a bit?”

“I broke things off with Jonah.”

“Oh. Why?”

A shot of outrage had John uncovering his eyes to glare at Jude. “I ruined my life and all you have is oh?”

Jude sat on the coffee table and shrugged. “You’ve already covered being dumb. What else do you want me to say?”

John re-covered his eyes. “I don’t know.”

Another loud sigh sounded through the room. “Do you plan to tell me what happened?”

“I’m s—”

“I swear by all that’s holy if you say you’re stupid one more time instead of answering me, I will punch the stupid right out of you.”

Once again, John uncovered his eyes, this time only long enough for Jude to see him rolling them. “I was going to say I’m selfish and spoiled.”

“You’re still not telling me anything new here.”

“It was new to me.” Even John heard the petulance in his tone. “Jonah isn’t graduating because of me. I also had no idea his shitty fucking mom hasn’t spoken to him in five years. What kind of person doesn’t know either of those things about someone they’ve been with for years? Me. The idiot,” John said, stabbing himself in the chest with his thumb. “That’s who.”

“I don’t see how either of those things are on you.”

John quickly sat up. A little too quickly. He cupped his head between his knees when the room spun. “I never asked questions.” The wind had gone out his sails, and he sounded tired. “If I’d asked questions, instead of always talking about myself, I would’ve known I made him miss too many days of school. I would’ve noticed he’d never introduced me to his family.”

“Okay. It does seem you should’ve noticed you hadn’t met his family. But I don’t think the failing school is on you. I mean, you paid for his college, right?”

“Probably.”

“Jesus Christ, John. You don’t even know if you paid for his school.” Judging by Jude’s tone, he was finally getting it.

John shrugged. “Bills came in. I paid them.”

A cup appeared beneath his nose. “Drink this.”

John accepted the coffee from Hendrix. He sat back as Hendrix filled the spot next to Jude on the coffee table. They both stared at him expectedly.

“Am I a bad person?”

“You’re one of the best people I know,” Jude said, sounding sincere. “It’s possible you mistook giving gifts as showing attention, but Jonah has always seemed happy to me. What did he say about all this?”

John shrugged. “Brad handled it.”

Jude blinked. “You had your lawyer dump him.”

Even though Jude’s words had obviously been a statement, John still nodded.

“Well, now you’re a bad person,” Hendrix said while patting John’s knee, as if that softened the blow.

John deflated. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Oh, you’ll have to grovel.”

Jude nodded, completely aligned with his husband. “A lot. Like you’ve never scraped and begged before in your life.”

John rubbed his chest. “The thing is, I’m not sure he isn’t better off without me.”

“So, you what?” Jude asked with a shrug. “You plan to stay drunk and pity party on my couch?”

“I didn’t say I was better off.”

“Lord, Jesus,” Hendrix muttered, coming to his feet. “I’m going back to bed.”

Jude grabbed Hendrix’s hand before he could get away and hauled him in for a kiss. “I’ll be there in a little while, baby.”

John couldn’t look. He missed being happy too much. When Hendrix left them alone, Jude moved to the couch beside him and draped his arm over John’s shoulders. “I know you’ll do the right thing. You always do in the end.”

“I don’t want to do the right thing. I want to be with Jonah.”

“There you go, then,” Jude said, making it sound so simple. “Love is never the wrong answer.”

John wasn’t so sure that was true. His love had suffocated Jonah, stealing his life. Maybe John didn’t know how to love anyone the right way. Maybe he was broken.