Fae Sutherland , Marguerite Labbe 629 Miles To Love

629 M

ILES

OVE

…Yes. Here he was. Turning Cal’s life upside down and

ripping open wounds that had never fully healed. God help
him, he wanted to say yes to whatever Noah was offering,
cling to him and never let him go. but he was afraid. His pride
stung, but it was the truth and he couldn’t deny it. He’d barely
survived losing Noah once. He knew if he let Noah in and it
blew up in his face, there’d be no recovering.

So Cal tilted his chin, as if he wasn’t dying inside, and met

Noah’s eyes steadily. “I am happy. I have a life and I’m happy
with it. So do you. Go back to it, Noah. We can’t recapture the
past, even if we wanted to.”

The moment the words left his mouth and Noah’s blue

eyes flashed with pain, Cal wanted to take it back. He gritted
his teeth and didn’t. After a moment, Noah drew in a heavy
breath and narrowed his eyes. “You’re a liar. Get back in the
truck.”

Cal watched incredulously as Noah stalked back around

the truck to the driver’s side. His heart ached and he didn’t
know what to do. Noah wasn’t letting it go, and Cal didn’t
know how much battering his willpower could take before he
crumbled in Noah’s arms.

“Noah…”
“Get in the truck! We aren’t done until I say we’re done.”

Noah’s eyes met his across the empty bed of the pickup. “And
just so you know—we aren’t ever going to be done.”

Cal’s heart leapt at the tone of absolute finality and knew it

was true. Despite all the time and other relationships, he’d
never let go of Noah. It seemed it went both ways…

LSO

UTHERLAND

ARGUERITE

ABBE

Fortunate Son

The Mask He Wears

629 MILES TO LOVE

FAE SUTHERLAND

& MARGUERITE LABBE

MBER

UILL

RESS

, LLC

http://www.AmberQuill.com

629 M

ILES

OVE

MBER

UILL

RESS

OOK

This book is a work of fiction.

All names, characters, locations, and incidents are products of

the author’s imagination, or have been used fictitiously.

Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, locales,

or events is entirely coincidental.

Amber Quill Press, LLC

http://www.AmberQuill.com

No portion of this book may be transmitted or

reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission

in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief

excerpts used for the purposes of review.

ISBN 978-1-60272-520-1

Layout and Formatting provided by: Elemental Alchemy

PUBLISHED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

For the Faerie Girl, Elfin Baby, and Little Pixie.

Wherever you are, you live in my heart.

—Fae Sutherland

For all of my family in New Hampshire, who have given me a

home away from home, and a place that rests my soul.

—Marguerite Labbe

629 MILES TO LOVE

CHAPTER 1

“You cannot do this to me again, damn it! Stop the truck.”
Noah Parker shook his head, staring straight ahead. “No.

You promised me a drive so we could talk. We’re going to
drive and we’re going to talk.” He glanced at the gas tank of
his new pickup truck. Full to the top. That meant he had 629
miles, give or take, to convince Cal Green he wasn’t jerking
him around. Knowing Cal, it might just take every last mile.

Cal glared at him, the dim dashboard light accentuating the

angry lines of his face. “That was when I was under the
impression, apparently mistaken, that you wanted to talk about
your father.”

Noah winced and sighed heavily. “Oh, I’m sure we’ll be

629 MILES TO LOVE

talking about him. But first I want to talk about us.”

Cal snorted, sinking back in the passenger seat and

crossing his arms over his chest. “There is no us, Noah. There
hasn’t been for a very long time. I accepted it, and from what I
heard, so did you. Let’s not rock the boat now, all right?”

Noah tried not to show how much that hurt and turned a

smirk on Cal. “Oh, I intend to rock it. Capsize it if I can.”

Cal had the intelligence to look worried. He turned in his

seat and his voice was serious, if a bit shaky. “Why are you
doing this? You made your decision six years ago. You don’t
get to change your mind now.”

Noah glanced away from the road long enough to give the

other man a reprimanding look. “If I recall correctly, and I do,
it was you who made the decision, Cal. All I wanted was a
little time, not to end everything in one fell swoop. That was
you.”

Noah remembered the day clearly. The night after

graduation, up on the hill where they used to go to get away
from everything and everyone but each other. Cal had gotten
down on one knee and proposed. And Noah had said no. He
didn’t regret that, but he damn sure regretted the way things
had gone from that point on.

“I was there that day, too. Don’t try to change what

happened to suit you now. You left. You left me…” Cal
paused and when he continued, the little note of vulnerability
had disappeared. “You wanted to go out and see the world. I
get it, okay? You got what you needed and you must be
happy, so congratulations. Take me home.”

629 MILES TO LOVE

“Nice speech, but no. I’ll take you home when we’re

done.” In Noah’s opinion, they were never going to be done,
never had been. It didn’t matter that he’d seen other people
since he’d left home or that Cal had had his own relationships.
In the back of Noah’s mind, there’d always been Cal. He’d
never fully let go and neither had Cal, whether he wanted to
admit it or not.

And when they returned home it would be together.
“We are done!”
“Not by a long shot, baby.”
“Stop calling me baby,” Cal ground out between clenched

teeth. “I’m not your damn baby.”

The unspoken “anymore” hung in the air between them.
“Can I call you gorgeous, then? Sexy?” Noah teased. He

couldn’t help himself. Cal was so stoic and in control most of
the time, and Noah delighted in seeing him off-balance.

Cal bit back something that sounded suspiciously like a

snort of laughter, but when Noah glanced at him again, Cal
had turned his face away to stare out the window and his
profile was stern. Oh, no, baby…no getting yourself under
control. If Noah had any chance, it was by making Cal stop
thinking and start feeling.

“We can call it a night and a bad idea.” Cal turned back

toward him. “Or we can talk about your dad. Pick one.”

Noah arched his brows. “And what happens if I choose

option C, none of the above?” He sighed at Cal’s glare and
nodded, turning back to the road. “All right. We’ll start with
my dad. Thank you for going to visit him. It means a lot, to

629 MILES TO LOVE

him and me.”

“I didn’t do it for you,” Cal bit off, and Noah winced.
“I know, but you did it, so thank you. He’s gonna be fine,

ya know. It was minor. They did that little balloon thing, and
he’s fine.” Noah chuckled softly. “Of course, he’s not going to
be enjoying any more poutine, and believe me, we’ve already
heard his opinion on that, but the docs say he’ll be good as
new by the time they let him out in a couple of days.”

Cal sighed. “Good. I’m glad. Now take me home.”
Noah didn’t bother acknowledging that silly demand. “Do

you remember when we used to do this? Hop in the car and go
for a drive with nowhere in mind, just to drive and talk?”

More silence from Cal’s side of the truck, so Noah

continued reminiscing.

“Of course, back then you’d be pressed all up against my

side, and I’d be having trouble paying attention to the road.”
He grinned over at his passenger. “Wanna come over here and
cuddle?”

“That does it!” Cal’s voice was a sharp crack in the close

confines of the cab, and Noah jumped, eyes widening as his
former lover turned on him with a furious glare. Cal’s eyes,
green-gold like a cat’s, glittered in the dim light. “I am not
amused, Noah, I am not charmed, and I am not fucking stupid
enough to fall right into your lap! What did you think, you
flash that smile at me, wink and crook a finger and I’m just
going to stumble all over myself to get at you?”

Noah said the first thing that came to mind. “I’d be okay

with that.”

629 MILES TO LOVE

Cal sank back against the passenger door, scrubbing a

hand over his face and chuckling wryly. “Jesus, you have an
ego to rival Paris Hilton’s.”

Noah swallowed his relief that Cal wasn’t yelling at him

anymore. “Yeah, I do, but this isn’t about ego. This is about
what we had, what we still have between us whether you’ll
admit it or not. We both fucked up six years ago, all right? I
got freaked and panicked, and you got hurt and closed me out.
But, Cal…”

Noah reached over and touched his face, the stubble on his

jaw tickling his fingertips.

“I did get out and see the world, traveled and worked and

yeah, loved…but nothing I saw, nothing I did and no one I
loved was you. You wanna know why I’m back, why I’m
doing this? It’s for you.” If he was honest with himself, it
always had been. He’d just been too damn afraid of losing
himself and instead he’d lost the person who mattered more.

Cal moved his head away from Noah’s touch, and the

rejection was a sharp, twisting stab in Noah’s heart. Telling
himself that Cal was just shielding himself didn’t help the hurt
one bit.

“Don’t say you’re doing it for me. If you were, you

wouldn’t be putting me through this hell.” Cal’s voice was
suspiciously thick. “You’re right, it’s not the same. I…I know
you’ve been with other people and you know I have, too, but
we can’t pick it up again like nothing’s changed.”

“I’m not asking for that. I’m not stupid. We can’t erase the

last six years.” Nor would Noah want to.

629 MILES TO LOVE

“Then what are you looking for? A stroll down memory-

fucking-lane? Maybe a ‘Hey, I’m back in town for the first
time and I’m in the mood for a nostalgic screw’?” The words
whipped out on a snarl. “But it’s probably just the fact you
were hurt and scared by what happened to your dad, so why
not run back to good old Cal? He’s always able to make me
feel better and then I can be on my merry fucking way.”

Cal had a vicious tongue when he was wounded, and Noah

wasn’t sure if this was worse than the day everything went to
shit. His hands tightened around the wheel and he
concentrated on the road, the double lines flowing past, dark
trees a wall on each side of the truck as he searched for the
hard-won patience he’d learned to use while he was away.

“I’m sorry.”
Noah’s head whipped around at the soft confession, but

Cal was once again staring at nothing outside the window. His
shoulders were tight and drawn inward, but just knowing how
much Cal was hurting soothed the wounds his words had
caused.

“I went too far,” Cal continued. “I know you’re not

thinking of a quickie or using me to make yourself feel better.
That’s not you. But that doesn’t change anything. Maybe
you’re right that we both fucked up, but it’s too late. I don’t
have it in me anymore.”

Noah cringed inwardly, guilt sweeping through him. The

hurt, the anger, the resigned despair in Cal’s voice—Noah had
done that to him. How could he never have known how much
their breakup had affected him? He’d known, obviously, that

629 MILES TO LOVE

Cal was hurt by it, but he’d never considered it might have
truly screwed him up.

Noah swallowed hard, scrambling to get his thoughts in

order. “It’s not too late, Cal. It’s never too late.” God, please
let that be true. “As for what I’m looking for? A chance.
Maybe you’re right, it’s too much to ask and I don’t deserve it,
but I’m asking for it anyway.”

Cal didn’t say anything at first, then heaved a sigh of pure

weariness. “A chance for what? Nothing’s changed. I’m still
rooted in this little nowhere town and you’re still itching to get
away. You have a life and so do I. They don’t match up any
more today than they did back then.”

Noah didn’t want to believe that. He refused to.

“Remember when we started applying for colleges?”

The shift in conversation seemed to throw Cal for a

moment before he recovered and nodded. “Yes.”

“You told me I wasn’t stupid for applying to all those Ivy

League colleges and the overseas programs. You said I should
never settle for anything less than what I wanted.”

Cal’s jaw clenched and he stared out of the window. “Of

course I remember. I just never…”

“Never thought I’d get accepted? Yeah. Me neither. But I

applied anyway because I wanted to go somewhere, do
something. Anything but end up trapped.”

“Is there a point to this?” Cal’s voice was brittle, and Noah

took a steadying breath.

“Yes. The point is you encouraged me, you told me to go

for it, and when I did and got accepted to Cornell and decided

629 MILES TO LOVE

to go…you proposed. Maybe it was childish and maybe I read
it wrong, but it felt like you were saying, ‘Congratulations,
you’ve got a chance at part of your dream, but, oh look, here’s
the other part of your dream. You can’t have them both…gotta
choose.’ I never intended for us to never fucking speak to each
other again. I never intended for me going away to college to
be the end.” He shook his head. “The point is our lives may be
very different, and in completely different places, but I was
never not willing to work around that. Never.”

* * *

Cal stared hard out the window, stared so hard his eyes

burned and his head ached. He hadn’t considered Noah had
taken his proposal that way. Looking back now he could see
how it would have hurt him, as if he’d thought Noah wasn’t
good enough to go to those fancy schools.

“It’s not that I didn’t think you’d ever get accepted. I just

didn’t think you really wanted to go. I thought you wanted to
prove to everybody that you could if you wanted to.”

It had come as a horrible shock when Noah had been

accepted and had immediately begun making plans, deciding
what he’d wanted to take with him and what he’d wanted to
leave behind.

Cal was one of the things left behind.
He had been so afraid of losing Noah. Maybe it hadn’t

been the best time to propose, but he’d just wanted some
reassurance Noah wouldn’t forget about him and move on.
That when school was over he’d want to come back and make

629 MILES TO LOVE

a life together. And now look. He’d ended up losing him
anyway, before Noah had even left.

“It might’ve started out that way. You changed my mind,

kept telling me I really could do it and it got me to thinking.”

Oh, fucking wonderful, so I talked him right out of my life,

Cal thought savagely, biting on the inside of his cheek. His
stomach was in one huge Gordian knot. He was battered and
raw, and stuck in this truck until Noah decided to put him out
of his misery.

“How do you intend to work around it?” Cal forced

himself to face Noah. “What did you intend, for that matter?
Why didn’t you say yes and go to school at the same time? I
would’ve waited. Hell, I would’ve gone with you if you’d
asked.” He would have been entirely out of his element, but he
would have gone to give Noah that chance. But that wasn’t
what Noah had wanted. He’d wanted to go off, do his thing
and what? Know he could come back to Cal when the party
was over? That’s what it had seemed like.

Noah glanced at him and the changes in him struck Cal

again. The stubbornness was still there in the tilt of his jaw
and his mouth still curved in the same mischievous smile that
deepened the cleft in his chin. Only now there was a new
patience in his dark blue eyes that terrified Cal. Noah wasn’t
going off all hotheaded, no matter how much Cal dug at him.
He was afraid Noah meant exactly what he said and was going
to wear away at Cal’s walls until there was nothing left to
protect him.

“I panicked, Cal. I’m not proud of it and I’m not excusing

629 MILES TO LOVE

it, but I panicked. There you were asking me to spend the rest
of my life with you, and I didn’t even know for sure what I
wanted to do with the rest of the week. I said no, when what I
should’ve said was I’m not ready for this.”

Cal flinched inwardly. He’d known exactly how he had

wanted to spend his life—with Noah, raising babies, laughing
and loving. But Noah hadn’t. That burned, even though he
knew it was pretty damn childish of him to expect Noah would
feel exactly the way he did, on exactly the same timetable.

Noah raked a hand through his messy mop of sandy blond

hair, the ends curling slightly and giving him a wicked,
cherubic look. “Jesus, Cal, we were just eighteen. I’m sorry
you were so sure then and I wasn’t, but damn it, I’m sure now.
Believe me, I realize how selfish it sounds for me to come
back here and want you back. I get that. But I didn’t expect
you to wait for me.”

“Well, good, because I didn’t.” That was petulant, Cal

knew, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t going to reveal just how
much time he had spent wondering, wishing and barely
stopping himself from picking up the phone.

Noah sighed, and a glance at his face had Cal wishing he

could take back his impulsive words. But he didn’t. He just
glared out the window, hurting inside and wishing the fact
Noah was hurting too made him feel better.

“I know you didn’t. I wouldn’t have wanted that for you,

Cal. I didn’t want you to wait and put your life on hold while I
went off and did what I felt I had to do. I just…I don’t know, I
didn’t want to lose you completely. I guess I never really

629 MILES TO LOVE

thought it all the way out, just you were there telling me I
could do this and then I did and I jumped at the chance.”

“And never once thought about me.” That was what hurt

the most and Cal was tired of pretending it hadn’t cut his heart
out. He turned towards Noah, glaring. “You were so damn
eager to get the hell out of Francis Notch that you didn’t give a
single thought to the fact I was part of what you were running
away from.” He swallowed hard, caught up in the memory of
the past. “Do you have any idea what that did? You got your
acceptance letter and you were making plans, ready to go. It
was all you could talk about.”

Noah nodded, guilt filling his eyes, and Cal hated seeing

the light in them dim, even when he was angry with him.

“I know. Jesus, I know how bad I hurt you and how selfish

I was and I’m not trying to deny it. I didn’t ask you to come
with me. I know. I’m sorry.”

Cal’s eyes burned and he abruptly turned away so Noah

wouldn’t see. That was the crux of his pain and what had
caused him to make such an impulsive decision when he’d
asked Noah to marry him. Because Noah had been barreling
ahead, not once mentioning what was going to happen to
them, and Cal had been watching him go weeks before he’d
left. So maybe he’d panicked too.

Whatever the reasons, the outcome had been the same.

Noah had left; Cal had stayed. They’d both found other
relationships. Not that he’d had any real success in making
them work, evidenced by his most recent boyfriend Dave who
had rightly accused Cal of keeping him at a distance and not

629 MILES TO LOVE

letting him in.

Deep down was Cal’s belief he hadn’t been good enough

for Noah back then, so what made him think he could be now?
If Noah had gotten exasperated before with Cal’s façade, how
much more irritated would he become with the shield he had
now? In the end, he’d get fed up and leave again, so it was
best to not start.

“I heard your firm won that Global Design Award and you

played a big part in it,” Cal said, tired of rehashing the past.
“Congratulations.”

Cal was proud of Noah’s accomplishments. Not only had

he gotten into college, he’d gone on to win a full ride for grad
school and was now doing what he’d dreamed, jetting around
the world, meeting important people and making a lasting
impact.

They both were living their dreams, right? So why were

they so damn miserable?

Cal snuck a peek at Noah. He was hurting—he’d never

been able to hide his feelings. Cal had always wondered if
Noah had hurt as much as he had, but now he knew he
shouldn’t have.

“I’m not just saying that as a sop. I mean it. The town

didn’t stop talking about it for weeks.”

“Thanks.” There was surprise in Noah’s voice.
Cal pushed away the memories and the urge to give in and

take what Noah offered for however long he was offering it.
His spine stiffened. Damn it, he had some pride left, too. “So
what’s your next project?” He could last out this ride, give

629 MILES TO LOVE

Noah pleasant conversation, then hole up at home after Noah
left.

“You.”
Cal groaned. Without looking, he knew the smirk on

Noah’s face, the confidence and arrogance that was innately
Noah. Cal knew Noah wasn’t going to give up easily.

“So that’s your grand plan—you’re just going to drive

around with me trapped in the truck until I give in and say I’m
yours again?” Cal’s heart lurched against his ribs. To be
Noah’s again…damn, had he ever not been? Just saying it,
thinking it, had him trembling.

“Yup.”

629 MILES TO LOVE

CHAPTER 2

“I heard your sister got married. To Jack Nelson of all

people.” Noah glanced over at Cal, a smile quirking his lips. “I
bet you had a nice long talk with him beforehand, huh?”

Cal chuckled, shaking his head. “You’d be surprised how

much things have changed around here. Jack’s long since
outgrown his high school tendencies.”

Noah imagined he could hear the underlying message, that

Noah never had outgrown his. Maybe it was just paranoia on
his part, but he couldn’t help but defend himself. “He’s not the
only one.”

Cal cut him a weary glance. “I know.”
Noah nodded. The tension wasn’t easing as much or as

629 MILES TO LOVE

quickly as he’d hoped. They’d been driving for almost two
hours now and it was beginning to sink in how different they
both were now. But, underneath the distance that had cropped
up over the years, Noah could feel, without a doubt, the
connection was still there. It gave him hope and spurred him
to try his best to bring it to the forefront.

“You owe me twenty bucks.”
Cal’s brows shot up. “Excuse me?”
Noah grinned. “Twenty bucks. Remember? A week before

graduation you and Kevin James bet me forty bucks I
wouldn’t walk graduation with no pants under my robes.
Kevin gave me his half of the forty bucks, but you never did.”
He grinned wider. “You owe me twenty bucks.”

Cal started laughing and it was such a beautiful sound, one

Noah had missed. The way the other man’s eyes sparkled, the
slight dimple that formed in his left cheek; it had Noah
wanting to kiss Cal so badly he ached.

“God, I can’t believe you did that. How the hell you

convinced Mr. Sutter that you’d split the seam and absolutely
could not get your hands on another pair of pants is beyond
me. Especially considering how hard you were trying not to
laugh.”

Noah chuckled and shrugged. “Hey, forty bucks when

you’re eighteen is a lot of money. Plus there was my
reputation on the line. I couldn’t go off to college with the
whole town thinking I was a scaredy pants.”

Cal laughed harder, leaning against the passenger door.

“No, they just thought you were ‘no pants.’ Dumbass.”

629 MILES TO LOVE

Some of the painful tightening in Noah’s gut eased. That’s

what he needed to do—keep Cal talking about the good
memories that didn’t focus so much on just them, make him
remember how good it was, and think about how good it could
be again. And it would be. Noah wasn’t giving up without one
hell of a fight. That had been his mistake six years ago.

“So seriously, tell me about your ‘talk’ with Jack. You can

deny it all you want, but I know there’s no way you let him
kissing your sis slide. Did you threaten to kick his ass if he
didn’t do right by her or something?”

“Maybe I took him aside for a minute or two.” Cal

shrugged, then grinned. “I had his full attention.”

Noah snorted. “I just bet you did, probably had him

quaking and swearing to give you his firstborn, too.”

“Tina’s pregnant now,” Cal said, with just a hint of

wistfulness.

“Nun-uh.” Noah tried to picture Cal’s sister nesting with

an expression of maternal bliss on her face and couldn’t
reconcile that image with the memory of the girl who had
terrorized them when they were little. She had been stronger
than they were and was always jumping out of corners, putting
them in headlocks and giving them noogies. One time she’d
sat on Cal and tickled him until he was sick. “Wow, Jack’s
one brave man. I’m still a little scared of your sister.”

Cal snickered. “She can’t walk faster than a waddle and

her temper’s deteriorated.”

“I change my mind. He’s not brave, he’s insane.”
Noah glanced over as Cal turned towards him and his

629 MILES TO LOVE

instincts tingled when Cal gave him a too-sweet smile. “You’d
better not let her find out you’re in town.”

“Good idea. You know what…let’s head for the border

instead. By the time she finds us, we’ll be old and gray.” Noah
liked the sound of that, growing old with Cal. It evoked all
kinds of nice images, like them cuddling before a fire, in their
own place. Maybe he hadn’t had the dream at the same time as
Cal, but it was still there, waiting.

“That’s a good idea. Let’s head to Sherbrooke, stop off,

have a few drinks, and reminisce about all the stupid things we
used to do.”

Noah’s brows furrowed. Cal sounded entirely too enthused

about the idea. He scratched his chin. This Cal was harder to
read than the old one and sometimes back then he had made
Noah want to tear out his hair. Then a suspicion occurred to
him. No, Cal wouldn’t.

“Cal Green, you aren’t trying to turn me in to the border

guards for kidnapping, are you?”

Cal shrugged. “It was a thought.”
“A bad one. If I’m arrested, you’d feel guilty and if you

recant, you’d be in trouble for laying a false claim. Then we’d
probably end up in a cell together.” Noah smirked. “Which is
almost as good as being in this little cab, though I don’t think
I’ll get a snuggle out of you in jail.”

“What makes you think I’d feel guilty?”
Noah grinned, taking the next fork in the road, heading

decidedly away from the Canadian border. “Because you love
me.”

629 MILES TO LOVE

Cal stiffened, his smile fading and eyes narrowing. Noah

just smiled in return. It was the truth and they both knew it, so
he didn’t intend to tiptoe around and pretend it wasn’t fact.

He didn’t linger over it either, though, because he wasn’t

an idiot. “Besides, it’s colder in Canada and I don’t have the
tolerance I used to.”

Cal rolled his eyes, and Noah was grateful he seemed

willing to change the subject and not argue over the love
thing.

“Yes, all those tropical resorts you’ve been building. Must

be rough.”

Noah chuckled and shrugged. “Hey, somebody has to

build those places. Besides, I’ll have you know I also designed
a hospital in Greece, a children’s center in New York City and
a night club in Vegas.”

Cal snickered and cut him an amused glance. “And how

exactly does the third fit with the other two in your quest to
seem a philanthropist?”

Noah shrugged again. “Drunk guys need love, too, man.”

He glowed inside when Cal busted up laughing. He always
had loved making this man laugh. It was damn nice to know
he still had the ability.

When the laughter faded, Noah’s fingers were tight on the

steering wheel, nearly overcome with the urge to touch Cal.
Just a hand on his arm, a touch to his hair…what there was of
it anyway. Cal wasn’t holding onto his hair well and had
apparently decided to beat nature to the punch and had shorn
his head nearly bald, save for a sexy, soft-looking stubble on

629 MILES TO LOVE

both his head and his jaw. Lord, he was so beautiful.

“I read your latest book. It was real good, just as good as

the others.”

Cal’s eyes widened in surprise. “You read them?”
Noah nodded. “Every one. I got ’em all on a shelf in my

apartment and at least one in my carryon bag, since I’m hardly
ever home.” He did read them, but the truth was he carried one
with him everywhere he went because on the inside back
cover was a gorgeous black-and-white photo of Cal. With
small, round wire glasses, looking studious and too sexy for
words. Noah didn’t tell him that part.

Cal was silent for a long moment, and Noah wondered

what was going on in that head of his. Cal thought too much
sometimes and to be honest Noah thought too little. Not that
he was stupid, Noah had come to recognize he was just
impetuous. Both qualities had been the cause of more than one
argument between them.

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised you’ve kept up with what

I was doing,” Cal said.

Noah chuckled. “No, you shouldn’t.” Time to change the

subject before Cal gets tense again. “So is that old barn still
standing?”

“Nope, that ice storm a couple of years ago knocked a tree

right into it. I think just about every usable piece has been
carted away for other projects or extra firewood.”

A sharp stab twisted in Noah’s chest. Damn, yeah, it had

been falling apart when they were teenagers, but still, to know
it was completely gone hurt. It was ridiculous to feel a sense

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of loss over a stupid old building, but it didn’t change the fact
that he did.

“There were some good times there.”
Noah glanced over at Cal, the urge to touch him even

stronger than before. “Yeah, some of the best.” Their eyes met
and, for a fleeting second, the last six years fell away and they
were teenagers again, sneaking away to be alone.

A flicker of movement caught the corner of Noah’s vision.

He swore and jerked the wheel, sending the truck lurching into
the other lane. A deer stood in the middle of the road, frozen,
before suddenly bounding to life and disappearing into the
trees. Noah’s heart pounded as he righted the truck, thankful
there was no other traffic.

“I see you haven’t lost your instincts.”
“New Mexico has its share of wildlife.”
“New Mexico…” Cal turned back to the window. “I can’t

imagine a place more different from here.”

Noah glanced over at him with a slow smile. “Try the

south of France, Tuscany. Ireland on a misty cool day.” There
was so damn much of the world he wished he could have
shared with Cal. Places that were so breathtaking he wished
Cal could see.

Cal met his eyes, the silence heavier suddenly, filled with

unspoken wishes. There were shadows in Cal’s eyes that
hadn’t been there when they were teenagers. “I would have
tried those places. You never gave me the option to.”

Noah flinched as Cal averted his gaze. “That’s not true.

Not totally. Maybe I never asked you to come with me, but

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goddammit, Cal, you never offered! So how about we ease up
on blaming the last six years of hell solely on me, huh?”

Cal pinned him with an angry glare. Good, Noah thought.

They would argue it out and then maybe things would make
sense again.

“Never offered? What the hell do you think my proposal

was?”

Noah abruptly pulled the truck off onto the shoulder. They

were in the middle of nowhere, so he didn’t think Cal was
stupid enough to try and bolt in the pitch dark. He slammed
the truck into park and turned to face his former lover, fully
prepared to have it out and leech some of this poison from
them both.

“I told you what I thought it was! I’m not saying it was the

most brilliant deduction I ever made, but Jesus Christ, I was a
fucking kid. A little slack would be nice.”

Cal turned as well, his green-gold eyes sparking furiously,

with hurt lingering behind the anger. “A kid? So was I, Noah,
but you didn’t see me ripping your heart out and blaming it on
a youthful mistake!”

Noah’s brows shot up. “Didn’t you? You cut me off, Cal.

Like I never mattered to you at all. I said no, I didn’t want to
get married and that was it. You were gone and you decided
for both of us it meant we couldn’t even be part of each
other’s lives.” Noah’s throat tightened and he clenched his
jaw. “Christ, Cal, nearly twelve years and you just slammed
the door in my face. That wasn’t you ripping my heart out?”

629 MILES TO LOVE

* * *

Guilt reared up and locked in Cal’s throat, choking him. It

was so much easier to focus on the pain of Noah’s betrayal,
only now he couldn’t. Cal understood Noah better than he
understood his own reasoning at times, because he
remembered Noah was honest with himself much more often
than Cal was.

Now Cal couldn’t ignore Noah’s pain. It was there in the

tight line of Noah’s mouth, the hard set of his features and the
way the angry façade was cracked and crumbling. Noah was
hurting as much as Cal was.

The cab was too confining, Noah too close, and Cal was

outside before he even thought about moving. The temperature
had dropped and the cool air was a slap in the face, driving
away the stinging in his eyes. Cal heard Noah cussing as he
climbed out of the truck as well and didn’t move as Noah
came around the cab. Cal tried looking away, but he couldn’t,
not with Noah staring him down nose to nose, the sensation of
his breath on Cal’s lips. Cal was lost. All that confusion, loss
and longing was coiled tight, ready to explode.

“Stop running away from me!” Noah shouted.
“I’m not the one who left. You did!”
“Bullshit! There’s all kinds of running. You closed

yourself off before my bags were even packed.”

Cal tore his eyes away as the guilt reared up again. He took

a step backward, trying to find breathing room, and Noah
grabbed his jacket, jerking him close again.

“Let go of me!”

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“You want me to let go, either you knock me out or you

admit your part in it.”

Cal shoved Noah hard and turned, leaning against the truck

and staring into the bed. “I said some things that day I’ve
never forgiven myself for. I wanted so bad to come see you
before you left, and say I was sorry and beg on my goddamn
knees for any kind of future for us, but I was too afraid the
answer was going to be no again.”

All the anger drained away, leaving only the guilt and

bone-deep weariness.

“I didn’t understand your need to get away. I still don’t.

All those places you’ve been to, where you live. It seems to
me you wanted to shed anything that reminded you of this
place, but I guess this isn’t your home anymore.” Cal scrubbed
a hand over his face and turned to Noah. “Why now, just tell
me that. Why after all these years? You never visited once, so
what makes it different now?”

Noah exhaled heavily, and Cal was reminded of just how

much he had always despised it when Noah was upset. It
awoke an instinctive need to soothe him, make it better. But he
didn’t have the right anymore and Cal forced himself not to
tell Noah it would all be alright. God knew it probably
wouldn’t be.

“Because I couldn’t stay away anymore. During college it

was easier, then in graduate school…I was busy working,
studying, interning. I could convince myself it was best this
way, that you were happy and so was I.” Noah shook his head
and ran a hand through his hair, mussing it even more than

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normal. “It wasn’t exactly a spur of the moment choice. I’ve
been talking myself out of picking up the phone or getting on
a plane for six years. I guess I just ran out of arguments and
here I am.”

Yes. Here he was. Turning Cal’s life upside down and

So Cal tilted his chin, as if he wasn’t dying inside, and met

Noah’s eyes steadily. “I am happy. I have a life and I’m happy
with it. So do you. Go back to it, Noah. We can’t recapture the
past, even if we wanted to.”

The moment the words left his mouth and Noah’s blue

eyes flashed with pain, Cal wanted to take it back. He gritted
his teeth and didn’t. After a moment, Noah drew in a heavy
breath and narrowed his eyes. “You’re a liar. Get back in the
truck.”

Cal watched incredulously as Noah stalked back around

“Noah…”
“Get in the truck! We aren’t done until I say we’re done.”

Noah’s eyes met his across the empty bed of the pickup. “And

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just so you know—we aren’t ever going to be done.”

Cal’s heart leapt at the tone of absolute finality and knew it

was true. Despite all the time and other relationships, he’d
never let go of Noah. It seemed it went both ways.

He steeled his courage, gathered what shreds of dignity he

had left, and got back into the truck. It was going to be a long
night. Cal had never known Noah not to get what he was
determined to have. Not once.

He was so fucked—and not in the good way.
Which was not the smartest thought to go through his mind

because it evoked too many heated memories best left buried.
The whisper of flesh against flesh, Noah’s breath hot against
his ear, how they moved together so right and fluid, as if
they’d been made for each other. At one time Cal would’ve
sworn they were.

Cal sighed. “You’re just as arrogant as you ever were.”
Noah flashed him a smile, pure imp, and Cal fought to

keep from responding. “So are you, beautiful. Does this mean
we’re going to bicker now?”

Cal’s brows shot up and his lips twitched despite himself.

“We don’t bicker; bickering’s for children. It’s more like
bantering.”

“You’re the one with the perfect SAT vocab score.” This

Noah he had no defense for. Cal could fight with him, argue,
scream, push him away, but Noah kept returning to those
boyish flashing smiles, bringing up memories that made him
laugh, touching on just the right words to draw him into the
conversation and make Cal forget, for a few minutes, the

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terrible abyss that separated them.

What did Noah have in mind? Moving back here? Cal

couldn’t help the surge of elation and hope inside of him. If
Noah came home, he’d have what he wanted in no time
because Cal would never be able to resist him for long. Or
maybe he wanted to take Cal with him, show him all those
places he kept mentioning. Could he do that? Could he leap
and follow him?

Cal gnawed on his lip until it stung. If he only knew what

was going on in Noah’s head. Did he have an idea of what he
wanted or was he going off by the seat of his pants as usual?

“What’s going on in that head of yours?” Noah asked,

breaking through his thoughts.

Cal blinked as his thoughts were spoken out aloud, then

barked out a laugh. “I was wondering the same thing.”

Noah seemed to ponder that for a second before his lips

curved in a wicked smile that set Cal’s nerves on edge. Oh,
why had he even asked? Sometimes the answers were more
dangerous than the questions.

“I was thinking I’d almost forgotten how cute you are

when you’re thinking hard like that.”

Cal was startled, having expected some kind of smutty

answer from Noah’s smart mouth. “Really?”

Noah laughed then, his midnight blue eyes gleaming with

amusement in the dim cab. “You sound surprised. What’s the
matter, baby? Were you hoping for something more risqué?”

Cal swallowed hard, shaking his head and pressing his lips

together, heart thudding in his chest.

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“I think maybe you were. Do you want to know how just

being this close to you is making me dizzy? How familiar you
smell and all the memories it brings up? How badly I want to
touch you and make you remember how amazing we are
together?”

Cal stiffened. Noah didn’t need to touch him for that. He

remembered. He’d never forgotten. Instead of saying so,
however, he gave Noah a sharp glare. “If you’re dizzy, maybe
you ought to let me drive.”

His former lover laughed and shook his head. “I don’t

think so.” Silence reigned for several moments before Noah
broke it. “So tell me something I’ve been curious about. The
former friend of your detective guy in the books? I can’t help
but notice he seems a little familiar. Coincidence?”

Cal squirmed, cheeks flushing and hoped Noah couldn’t

tell in the shadows. “Must be.”

“Hmm. Maybe. Maybe not. Chambers sure does seem to

miss him. Won’t admit it to himself, let alone Richard, but it’s
pretty obvious. No correlation there…subtext maybe?” Noah’s
voice was teasing, but when Cal glanced over at him, there
was a glimmer of hope in his expression that cut. He’d never
been able to stand Noah wanting or needing anything,
especially not something Cal was able to provide.

Cal was damned either way he answered. He could let

Noah win another round or lie to him and see the hurt in his
eyes. Unfortunately, for him, he would much rather see Noah
gloat than to cause him any more pain. He’d had enough of
hurting to last a long time. “Writing is good therapy; better

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than any shrink out there.”

He waited for the bark of laughter, the “I told you so,” but

it never came. Instead, he felt the warm brush of Noah’s
fingers over the back of his hand. Cal’s heart stopped, the
tightness in his chest suddenly painful. Noah’s hand closed
around his, lacing their fingers together. Cal’s heart started
beating again, as his stomach exploded into mad flutters.

“And you thought all your scribblings were for nothing,”

Noah said, as Cal’s eyes fell to their hands.

Briefly, Noah squeezed, the silent way he had always

supported Cal when he was upset, then, before Cal could
respond, his touch was gone. He wanted to cry out, grab
Noah’s hand and never let go, beg Noah never to let go of him
again. Cal’s hand tightened into a fist, his nails digging into
his palm.

“I didn’t have anything important to say then.” Cal winced,

his voice was unsteady enough to give him away to a blind
rock, and Noah was neither.

Cal studied Noah’s profile, taking in the little glances he

kept giving him when he took his eyes off the road. Some
things hadn’t changed at all. Noah still knew him so well,
knew when he had more to say. “After you left, I thought I
was going to go crazy. I had nothing to distract myself with,
working in the lumberyard wore me out enough that most
nights I could go to sleep without thinking, but I couldn’t
work every second. Writing…it kept me going.”

He didn’t say it to be accusatory. What it came down to

was that Noah had been far more than his lover. He’d been

629 MILES TO LOVE

Cal’s best friend for as long as he had conscious memory. The
only person he could really talk to and by the time their
friendship had deepened to become lovers it didn’t even
require thought. Talking to Noah was talking to his other half.

“I guess you could say you became my muse.”

629 MILES TO LOVE

CHAPTER 3

It was late. Cal’s eyes were gritty from exhaustion and

spent emotion. Noah couldn’t be any better off than he was.
He’d been driving for hours, turning the truck into New
Hampshire, then following along the Connecticut River for a
time. Cal wished it were light out so Noah could see all the
beauty he’d left behind. Instead, there was only the dark
pressing in all around them.

Cal considered asking Noah to stop, but kept himself from

doing so. Nothing was open anyway, despite his stomach
rumbling from hunger. They’d talked, argued, shouted and
reminisced some more. Now they’d fallen silent, and Cal
didn’t know how much longer he could take this.

629 MILES TO LOVE

They were moving along the Kancamagus Highway in the

White Mountains and Cal tried to calculate how many miles
before Noah ran out of gas, but the numbers jumbled in his
head. He could lean over and check the gauge, only he knew it
would start Noah up again.

A white glow caught his attention, spreading across the

horizon through the trees. Cal sat up straight, a grin crossing
his lips as he grabbed Noah’s arm. “Pull over.”

“What?” Noah’s voice was raspy. “Cal, for the hundredth

time, I’m not…”

“No, look, the northern lights.” Cal pointed, his excitement

chasing away all the weariness. The lights didn’t happen that
often and they never got old in his opinion.

Noah’s smile flashed in the dark. “Isn’t there a lookout

spot somewhere along here?”

“Yeah, it’s not far, just around a few bends I think.”
Soon they were pulling into a spot off the side of the

highway, where the trees opened up and the side of the
mountain dropped away to look down into the deep valley
below. The horizon had gotten brighter and new colors were
entering the show, deep flickering blues, rosy pink deepening
to almost red.

Cal took a deep breath, leaning closer to the windshield,

and abandoned the tactic of staying as far from Noah as
possible. “Damn, will you just look at that.”

“I am looking.”
The wistfulness of Noah’s voice alerted him, and Cal

turned his head to find Noah staring right at him. His cheeks

629 MILES TO LOVE

grew warm, but before he could say anything, his stomach
rumbled, loud and long.

Noah burst out laughing. Cal made an exasperated face

and gave him a light shove. “It’s all your fault. Don’t you
know the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach?”

“Lucky me then.” Noah twisted around in his seat and dug

around in the space behind, returning with a small Styrofoam
cooler. “I came prepared.”

Cal again realized he was doomed. Noah hadn’t done this

on the spur of the moment. No, he’d planned this out in every
detail. Knowing it made everything Noah said that much more
believable, and God knew Cal wanted to believe.

“Mmm, I’ll withhold my opinion until I see what you

brought for me.”

Noah’s expression was worried, and Cal’s stomach

flipped, wondering what the look was for. Now what? Noah
lifted the top off the cooler and Cal peered inside, his throat
clogging.

It was just a pair of foil-paper wrapped burgers, cold

French fries and two root beers, nothing that would seem like
anything to another person. but Cal’s eyes burned. He reached
in to pull out one of the burgers, his smile watery as he ran his
fingers over the logo on the wrapper.

“You have a good memory,” he murmured.
“When it comes to you? To us? Yeah, I do.”
Cal looked up then, and his breath caught. The moonlight

pouring through the windshield lit Noah from behind like a
halo, and the northern lights reflected in his eyes. How was he

629 MILES TO LOVE

supposed to resist him? Noah turned his barriers into nothing
but easily shredded paper.

He sighed, looking down at the burger and chuckling

roughly. “I haven’t had one of these in years.” Six years,
actually. Since the night he’d proposed, when he and Noah
had stopped at Joey’s Diner to grab some food to take up to
their spot just outside of town.

“Think they’re still as good?” Noah’s voice was full of

forced lightness, and Cal latched onto the opportunity to
continue to act as if nothing was wrong.

“They were never very good. Heart attacks on a bun is

what they are.” He pulled out the French fries while Noah set
the sodas in the truck’s cup holders. They each settled back in
their seats, watching the light dancing across the horizon
through the windshield. Cal took a bite and smiled wistfully.
“Still just as good.”

Their eyes met, and Cal could see in Noah’s gaze that

neither of them was really talking about the food at all. He
looked down abruptly, stomach twisting, and turned his face
toward the window. Noah’s reflection mocked him. It
appeared there was no escaping him no matter where Cal
turned. It’d been that way for six years and now was no
different.

“You can’t even look at me?”
Cal closed his eyes tightly, as if he could block Noah out

when he knew he never could. He closed his eyes and Noah’s
face danced behind his lids, taunting him. He plugged his ears
and Noah’s voice whispered in his mind, unraveling his sanity

629 MILES TO LOVE

bit by bit. He pressed his lips together, taking a deep breath
before opening his eyes, still facing away from the other man.
Their gazes met in the glass.

“Looking at you hurts too much.”
Noah’s breath caught—such a soft sound for the pain Cal

knew he caused him. Cal forced himself to turn to face him.

There was so much beauty outside, shining curtains of

energy moving across the sky, but inside there was only
exhaustion and tangled emotions. Cal’s gaze lingered on
Noah’s face, noting all the changes time had wrought.

“When I look at you, I see everything I’ve lost.” Without

thought, his hand came up to Noah’s face and his heart
tripped. There were lines etched there, most of them from the
strain of the last few hours, but some had formed during the
time Cal had missed. “I see everything I can’t get back.”

Noah’s eyes flew open again and when he opened his

mouth Cal pressed his fingers against his lips. His heart
lurched and stumbled; his eyes stung with the tears he’d held
back. “You know, ever since I was six years old, you were
there. We had no secrets. It was like you were my twin until I
realized how I loved you. Then you were just my other half,
my better half. You’ve gone off and done things without me.”
Cal shook his head as Noah made another sound of protest.
“It’s not an accusation, Noah, it’s the truth. It hurts to look at
you and know there’s a whole part of your life I haven’t
shared and I’ll never get that back.”

Cal brushed his fingers over those soft lips, and when

Noah kissed the tips, the damned tears Cal had been holding

629 MILES TO LOVE

back slipped down his cheeks. He pulled his hand back and
wiped them away, shrinking back into his corner of the truck.
“It’s fucking stupid, I know. God, even if you’d stayed, I
doubt you’d want me monopolizing every second.”

He shook inside. He longed with an intensity that rivaled

the lights outside to sink into Noah’s arms and let his friend
hold him. He wanted to pretend, if only for a few minutes, that
everything was okay, and they could make it somehow work
between them, despite the miles separating them and the
different lives they had.

* * *

Noah could barely breathe around the ache in his chest, his

heart crumbling bit by bit. Finally, after a moment of silence,
he gave in to the desire that had become a desperate need to
hold Cal.

Cal resisted, the most pitiful sound escaping him when

Noah reached to draw him across the seat and into his arms.
The noise was a sound of soul-deep fear, and Noah knew it
wasn’t that Cal was afraid Noah would physically harm him,
but fear of the emotional battering. It ate Noah alive knowing
Cal hurt so much.

“Cal, stop. Baby, please, let me hold you…” God help

him, if this didn’t work, if he ended up running out of time and
miles and Cal went home and never looked back, Noah knew
he’d never get another chance to so much as touch him. He
was selfish enough to take the opportunity while he could,
horde it for a future that might be as devoid of the man he

629 MILES TO LOVE

loved as the last six years had been. “You did share it, Cal.
You shared my life, every goddamn moment. You were
there.” Noah spoke softly, his arms firm but gentle around Cal,
holding him despite Cal’s rigid tension and panting, anxious
breaths. “You shared it.”

A soft, choked sound filled the cab and Noah’s arms

tightened as Cal’s whole body shook with a sob. Tears filled
Noah’s eyes, burning, and he bent his head to press his
forehead against the top of Cal’s head. His voice was thick
and a bare whisper when he spoke, but he knew Cal heard him
despite the quiet, rough sounds of anguish the other man was
making.

“I’m sorry.” He hadn’t said it yet and it was damn well

past time he did. “I’m so fucking sorry I hurt you. I hurt us. I’d
do things differently if I could, but, baby, we can’t go back.
Just forward.” He broke off, swallowing hard and turning his
cheek against Cal’s head, eyes closing and soaking in greedily
the feel of him in his arms. “We can’t get those years back—
God, if we could, I’d do it—but I can’t do that for you, baby.
I’m sorry.”

He lifted his head, both hands coming up to Cal’s face and

cradling it gently, tipping his face up to meet his eyes. Wet
and reddened, so afraid and hurt that it made Noah want to
scream. And still he was the most beautiful man Noah had
ever laid eyes on.

“I can’t give those years back…but damn it, I can make

the rest of the ones we have left beautiful, if you just let me.
Please let me, Cal. I don’t want to lose any more time with

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you.” He’d beg, get down on his knees and plead if he had to.
He didn’t know what to do to make Cal see that six years
might be lost, but worse would be any more time slipping past.

“Hold me. Just hold me and don’t let go.” Cal released his

hold on Noah’s jacket and his arms crept around his waist, as
if Cal was certain he would disappear at any moment.

Noah laughed shakily, tugging Cal even closer. “Now I

feel like a Celine Dion song.” It wasn’t a yes, but it was a step
in the right direction and it gave him so much hope for their
future.

“Jackass,” Cal retorted, though there was an answering

laugh in his voice and he relaxed against Noah, laying his
head on Noah’s shoulder. “We have this deep moment, and
you make a joke.” He paused and his arms tightened around
Noah’s waist. “You always could make me laugh, didn’t
matter how pissed I was.”

Noah kissed the top of Cal’s head, the stubble strangely

soft against his lips. “It’s because I like hearing you laugh.”

“I…”
Noah waited and when Cal didn’t continue, he nudged

him. “Hey, go on. Tell me what you were going to say.” Cal
was the kind of man you had to get talking at moments like
this when he couldn’t put up a fight or he’d push everything
away again and hide it. It wasn’t just the times when he was
hurting either. Noah remembered how often he’d gotten
exasperated or pissed because Cal had been keeping silent on
something and his reasoning had been because he hadn’t
wanted to upset Noah or he thought it really wasn’t significant

629 MILES TO LOVE

enough to mention.

“It’s not important.”
“Let me be the judge of that.” Noah held his breath,

praying Cal would open up to him.

“You’re not the only one who’s changed. I’ve found things

in myself that I don’t like.”

Noah slid his hand down Cal’s arm to lace their fingers

together. Silently, he urged his baby on, wondering what could
be eating away at him.

“I’m not as strong as you are, Noah. I don’t have your

guts. I always thought I did, or I never gave it thought, until
you left. I’m a needy wreck. You can go out and take on all
these challenges, and I can’t. Without you holding me up, I
fell apart, turned in on myself and became a damn hermit.”

Noah’s mind whirled as Cal went on.
“I’m not trying to make you feel bad or lay a guilt trip on

you. It’s just the truth. You can stand on your own. I can’t, and
it’s not your fault. It’s who I am. You’re better than I am,
Noah. I’d only end up dragging you down when you can do so
much.”

Noah’s instinct was to tell Cal how patently stupid that

was, but he didn’t. Cal felt it, so it wasn’t stupid. But it damn
sure wasn’t true, and Noah intended to make sure he saw that.

He laid his cheek against Cal’s head, sighing as he

struggled to find the right words. “Needing someone isn’t
weakness. And maybe I didn’t handle the need the same way
you did, but do you think if my life was so fulfilling without
you that I’d be here now, making this desperate bid to bring

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you back into my life?”

Cal was silent, but Noah knew he was listening and

thinking. “What can I do without you that I can’t with you?
Hmm? Fall asleep lonely, even if there’s someone else in bed
with me? Wake up just as lonely and wish the newspaper
didn’t have a stock market section so it wouldn’t make me
think of you? Is that what I can do without you? Because
that’s what I’ve been doing, and I don’t know about you, but it
hurts and I can’t stand it anymore.”

“You said…you loved other people.” Cal’s voice was

small, hesitant.

Noah smiled, shrugging a little. “Maybe. Not like you. Not

enough to make me feel connected. You dated, you had
relationships, but can you honestly tell me you felt for any of
them even a fraction of what you feel for me?”

Silence.
Noah shook his head. “Exactly. Love is one thing—caring

about another person, intimacy, yeah…but you and me, there’s
nothing else like us. And if any of those people had been able
to fulfill me, I wouldn’t be here. But I am.”

Cal’s head tilted back, and their eyes met. He looked

exhausted, so unsure and hopeful that Noah wanted to wrap
him up and never let him hurt again. If he had his way that
was just what he was going to do. He smiled gently and
lowered his head, brushing a kiss across lips he had dreamed
about for far too long, then pulled back before either of them
could deepen it. His lips tingled, and Cal’s eyes were wide.

He shifted them, stretching out on the seat with Cal half

629 MILES TO LOVE

atop him, their legs tangled, and urged Cal’s head to his chest.
“Sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up.” They would talk more
then. They were both exhausted now, and the idea of falling
asleep with Cal in his arms was one Noah couldn’t resist.

Cal’s body remained tense in his arms, but relaxed a little

more each minute. By the time the last shimmer of colorful
light left the sky, Cal had drifted off, his weight a comforting
promise.

Noah held on, savoring each second, fighting back the

weariness. This was the only dream he wanted. He held onto
that thought and the sensation of Cal’s breath on his skin, his
lover’s scent all around him before sleep claimed him as well.

629 MILES TO LOVE

CHAPTER 4

It was the cold that woke Cal. He tried to resist, since he

was having the most wonderful dream. The unfamiliar
sensation of arms around him and being held close finally
prompted him to open his eyes. The faint early dawn light
showed frost on the windshield and the steering wheel of
Noah’s truck stared right back at him.

Cal’s heart jumped. It hadn’t been a dream. He laid his

cheek against Noah’s chest and wrapped his arms around him
again, squeezing his eyes shut. Noah, Noah, Noah. God, he
smelled the same, just like Cal remembered, of sunlight and
wind. Noah’s heartbeat thumped in Cal’s ear.

Cal swallowed the hard lump in his throat. “Looks like you

629 MILES TO LOVE

won again,” he whispered, lifting his head and studying
Noah’s face. Letting Noah walk away now wasn’t even an
option, not when allowing Noah to leave six years ago was the
biggest mistake he’d ever made. Whatever the consequences,
Cal wasn’t about to repeat it.

Noah’s hair tumbled across his forehead, his lashes were

gold-tipped, and Cal longed to kiss him. He wanted to shake
Noah awake and tell him he was sorry, too, tell him he was
ready to do whatever it took—leave home, go off and wander
the world if that’s what Noah needed—just to be with him.

Cal didn’t though, not yet. There were dark shadows under

Noah’s eyes and Cal didn’t want to disturb him, especially
when waking up in his arms was such a beautiful feeling. He
buried his face in Noah’s chest and went through the previous
evening, bringing up every argument he’d had for not going
ahead and accepting what Noah had offered. One by one, he
laid each worry to rest. Having this right here was worth any
amount of anxiety.

The sky lightened, and Cal shifted uncomfortably. Damn,

he had to pee, but the idea of leaving the warmth of Noah’s
embrace for the chill outside was daunting. The pressure won.
Cal groaned and levered himself up as Noah stirred, mumbled,
then dropped back off. Cal’s eyes lingered before he leaned
forward and brushed his lips over Noah’s, his heart
hammering. He wanted more than that brief touch and it took
an effort to pull away.

Moving quietly, he opened the cab door, cursing as the

cold hit him and his breath ghosted the air outside. Sooner you

629 MILES TO LOVE

get it over with, Green, the sooner you can get back.

It wasn’t as cold as it would get, but compared to Noah’s

warmth, it might as well have been ten below. Cal jogged for
the stand of trees to the right and shivered as he handled the
necessary business. He was looking forward to getting back to
the truck and the toasty warmth of curling up with his old
lover. His heart tripped as that thought sank in. Back to Noah.
Noah’s here. God, how many times had he wished it, and here
it was, and he’d been a jackass all night long.

Cal straightened, fastening his pants. Not anymore. What

was he fighting against, his most cherished daydreams coming
true? Yes, he might not survive it if Noah left him again, if he
couldn’t be what Noah thought he was, but who the hell was
he kidding? He couldn’t survive it if Noah left now either.
Better to have what he could get and hope for the best because
the alternative was embracing the worst and he wasn’t going
to go there again.

He turned, feeling steadier inside than he had since the

moment he’d heard Noah was coming back to town. Cal
ducked through the trees and froze as Noah, awake now and
stalking around the truck, pinned him with his stormy blue
eyes and headed his way. The sense of calm shattered
instantly.

“Where were you?” Hard fingers circled Cal’s wrist and

tugged him up against Noah’s broad chest. Cal couldn’t help
getting a little weak in the knees despite the irritation rising
up.

“I’m a grown man, and you’re not my keeper! If you must

629 MILES TO LOVE

know, I had to piss after a long night of being held hostage!”

Noah hesitated, as if that hadn’t occurred to him, and for a

second Cal felt bad. He hadn’t considered Noah might think
he’d snuck off if he woke up to find him gone. Before the guilt
could set in, though, Noah’s famous temper was sparking the
way it always did when the hotshot got defensive. Behind the
defensiveness were a fear and vulnerability that struck Cal
deeply.

“A grown man who’s forgotten where the hell he is

apparently! What’s the matter with you, wandering off alone
and not telling me? What if something had happened, like
what if a bear or something had come upon you?”

Cal scowled and tried to tug his wrist free, but no such

luck, so he tilted his head and glared instead. The next thing
Cal knew he was being kissed breathless and he forgot all
about being mad. He wrapped both arms tight around Noah,
stretching up to press their bodies fully together and kiss him
back with all the intensity he’d stored up for six long years.

He forgot all about the cold and where they were. None of

it mattered except he was back where he belonged. There was
movement and then Cal was pinned between Noah and the
truck and the cold metal did nothing to drive back the heat
exploding through him. Noah’s body was hard, his lips
bruising, and Cal was in heaven.

Cal sank his hands into Noah’s messy hair and fisted them,

holding Noah’s mouth to his when he tried to pull back. Cal
kissed his lover as if he’d never get enough. He moaned deep
in his throat. Noah shuddered and broke his mouth away

629 MILES TO LOVE

despite the way Cal’s hands tightened in his hair.

“Why’d you stop? Don’t stop,” Cal demanded, his eyes

fluttering closed with another moan when Noah’s hot mouth
found the curve of his neck. He tilted his head to the side,
shivering when it let Noah find his most sensitive spots. He
couldn’t catch his breath as his senses reeled.

Noah chuckled, the sound ragged, and opened the door of

the truck. “If you’d let go of my hair long enough to let me get
us inside some kind of shelter, I swear to you I won’t stop for
a damn thing.”

With vast reluctance, Cal released him and scooted into the

cab. He turned to reach for Noah as he followed, grateful there
was no hesitation or second thoughts in Noah’s eyes. Their
mouths met again, exploring, remembering with an intensity
that drove Cal’s breath from his lungs. He tried to press
himself closer and hissed with impatience when he couldn’t
get the full effect of Noah’s body.

“Damn trucks aren’t designed for this,” he muttered

against Noah’s mouth.

“I’ll take it up with Nissan first thing.”
Noah’s hands stripped Cal of his jacket and slid

underneath his shirt. Cal gasped, but Noah’s hands quickly
warmed against his skin, sliding up Cal’s back, touching his
stomach and dipping his fingers under the waist of Cal’s jeans.
Cal knelt up and straddled Noah’s thighs, sliding his hands
into his lover’s hair again, tugging his head back so his mouth
could latch onto Noah’s throat.

The sound of Noah’s groan filled the cab, and Cal grinned,

629 MILES TO LOVE

nipping lightly at his Adam’s apple. “In all that planning you
did, you didn’t think to bring a pup tent, or at least a damn
mattress for the truck bed? You know us.”

“Jesus, Cal, would you really want to stop right now to put

up a tent?”

“Valid point.” Cal slid his hands up Noah’s shirt, stifling a

laugh when he shivered. Cal was euphoric, horny, drunk on
Noah’s kisses and needing more. “And I probably would’ve
kicked your ass on the spot if I saw a mattress in the back.”

“There’s that, too.”
He wasn’t interested in kicking Noah’s ass now. All he

was thinking of was how good the man tasted, how warm he
was, how heavenly familiar his hands were.

They tugged and pulled and tossed aside clothes, until

finally naked flesh scorched naked flesh. Cal shivered
uncontrollably when they finished tugging their pants off and
Noah pulled him back into his lap, the hard length of his lover
against the inside of his thigh. His head spun and he pressed
closer, fingers curling hard into the muscles of Noah’s back as
their lips clashed again.

Cal’s hips rocked, unable to help himself and unwilling

even to try. Who needed sanity when there was Noah? Kissing
him breathless, touching him, loving him, for God’s sake. Cal
moaned and rocked harder against his lover, impatient for
more, needing it all.

Noah must have felt the same because his hands were

greedy on Cal, dragging down his back, curling on his ass,
squeezing it, and Cal broke his mouth away finally with a

629 MILES TO LOVE

ragged laugh as their eyes met.

“Noah, I love you…but if you don’t fuck me right this

second, I’m going to have to shoot you,” he growled, sinking
his fingers into Noah’s hair again, hard.

* * *

Noah thought for a split second his heart was literally

going to pound right out of his chest. He groaned and slid a
hand up to the nape of Cal’s neck, the other hand down to rub
two fingers against Cal’s entrance, and his eyes locked with
cat-like green gold. “Say that again,” he growled, pushing his
fingers inside.

Cal shuddered and cried out, his eyes fluttering closed for

an instant before opening again as his hips began to rock hard,
forcing Noah to penetrate him completely and not slow and
carefully like he’d planned.

“Say what, hotshot? That I’m gonna shoot you?” Cal

chuckled, breathless and rough, moving hard against Noah.
“Keep doing what you’re doing and maybe I won’t.”

Noah grinned, turning awkwardly and laying Cal back on

the seat, driving his fingers hard into him over and over,
enthralled by the way his lover’s throat corded when he cried
out, how his head arched back and his chest heaved. “Say you
love me,” he demanded, greedy for words he hadn’t heard in
what seemed a lifetime.

Cal’s eyes widened, and then he smiled, a brief brush of

utter softness in the midst of their heated, hard coming
together. “I love you, Noah. I always have.”

629 MILES TO LOVE

“Ditto, babe,” Noah said, pressing his forehead to Cal’s,

eyes intent on his lover’s face as he drove him crazy with his
fingers. “I’ve never stopped loving you and wishing you were
with me.” He swept his tongue over Cal’s lips, groaning when
Cal caught it, giving it a brief teasing suck before releasing it
again. “I’m not letting you out of my sight again.”

“Okay.”
Noah froze, staring down at Cal in shock as the import of

Cal’s admission hit him hard. Cal groaned and rocked up
against him. “You mean it?” Noah asked, daring to breathe
again. Hell, yes, Cal meant it, and even if it was spoken in the
heat of passion, Noah was going to hold him to it.

Cal nodded frantically, clenching around him hard. God,

how could he have forgotten how crazy and wanton and
gorgeous Cal was when they were alone? He took Noah’s
breath away. Cal’s hand tightened in his hair until his scalp
stung. “Stop leering at me and start moving.” Then Cal’s eyes
softened and his arms twined around Noah, drawing him down
for a passionate kiss.

“When I woke up this morning in your arms, I knew what

a jackass I’d been. I’m not giving you up again. I’m not
chasing you out of my life a second time. I love you. I’ve only
ever wanted to belong to you.”

Noah’s heart squeezed painfully in his chest and he gave

Cal a shaky smile, leaning down to kiss him again. Mine.
Mine. Mine. He couldn’t get over it. He’d won Cal over and he
still had a quarter tank of gas left.

Cal broke his mouth away, his eyes heated, a teasing smile

629 MILES TO LOVE

on his face. “Noah…” His voice held a warning note. “Fuck
me now, or I’ll make everything Tina has ever done to you
seem sweet by comparison.”

“Oh, Jesus, don’t mention your sister now.” Noah started

driving his fingers again, cutting off whatever response Cal
was going to make. “You’re so demanding. I love that about
you.”

Cal chuckled. “Yes, well, love me while you’re fucking

me, would you?”

His hips bucked up hard, and Noah fell in love with him all

over again. His baby made him forget all the bad things and
only remember the good.

Noah wasn’t stupid enough to think about denying either

of them any longer. He withdrew his fingers, reached over to
the glove box, and popped it open. Cal was scowling at him in
confusion, confusion that changed to teasingly indignant when
Noah pulled a small bottle of lube from underneath the
owner’s manual of his truck.

Noah snickered and popped the cap. “I might not have

pitched us a tent or brought a mattress, but I did come
prepared.”

“Thank God. I was beginning to wonder if all your

confidence was mere bravado…” Cal shifted one long leg up
and out to brace his foot on the dash, leaving himself spread
for Noah.

“A little maybe, but I hoped,” Noah murmured, as he bent

his head to take one tiny, hard nipple into his mouth while two
slickly lubed fingers pumped back inside Cal several times

629 MILES TO LOVE

before withdrawing.

Noah lifted his head and settled half on his knees, half-

lying over Cal, the confines of the truck restricting and
awkward, but he didn’t care and neither did his lover. His cock
slid along the warm cleft of Cal’s ass, nudging his entrance,
and they both shuddered.

“Don’t tease…goddammit, Noah, fuck me.” Cal’s fingers

curled hard on Noah’s shoulders, his short nails digging into
the skin.

His demand wasn’t necessary. Before the final word was

out, Noah was pushing deep inside him, his eyes narrowed
down at his lover and head spinning at the clutching heat of
him. Cal’s reaction was beautiful. His lover’s neck arched
back, his mouth fell open and his eyes closed, lashes
shadowing high, elegant cheekbones.

“Oh, God…” Cal moaned, his voice breathy and thin.
“Hold the worship, baby…lemme earn it first,” Noah

bantered through gritted teeth, withdrawing only to drive hard
back inside, his cock sliding past Cal’s prostate and dragging a
desperate cry from him and another sharp arch of his hips.
There was nothing in the world that could entice Noah from
his side now. Cal belonged to him, and Noah was never letting
him go.

Cal panted, caught his breath, and wrapped his other leg

around Noah’s waist. “Keep that up and I’ll be singing
halleluiahs before you’re done.”

Noah chuckled and drove hard into him again. It was better

than coming home…it was sheer heaven. “I’ll hold you to

629 MILES TO LOVE

that.”

“You do that, hotshot, you do that.” Cal’s teeth nipped

Noah’s throat, his hands clutching at Noah’s ass, spurring him
on with hard flexes of his fingers. Cal moaned, the sound
desperate and needy. “Besides, I don’t think you ever failed to
make me worship you.”

“That first time was rather awkward, if I recall.”
“It didn’t take us long to figure it out.”
“No, it didn’t,” Noah agreed, claiming Cal’s mouth again.
Then there was no more teasing, just Cal’s taste, his scent.

Noah greedily devoured every bit of the sensation he’d missed
and craved. Never again. He was never going to be without his
Cal again.

“I love you,” Cal said, when the kiss broke. He wrapped

his arms around Noah’s shoulders and buried his face in
Noah’s neck, his hips snapping up to meet each movement and
repeating the words.

Hearing it would never get old. Noah wrapped his arms

around Cal as best he could in the space they had, held him
close, whispered back to him. It was frantic and loving and
nigh indescribable at the same time.

Noah slid one hand down under Cal to cup his ass, lifting

him to meet every thrust and groaning when Cal clenched so
tight around him it was almost painful. It was so familiar yet
so foreign. They’d been young and inexperienced before,
barely aware of how their own bodies worked, while trying to
figure out each other’s at the same time. It’d been beautiful
and special each time they’d made love in the past, but it was

629 MILES TO LOVE

nothing like it was now.

Now Cal knew when to clench to make Noah crawl out of

his skin, and Noah knew what angle to aim for to nudge Cal’s
spot deep inside, but not hit it directly. Part of him mourned
the fact they hadn’t learned those things with each other, but
he didn’t linger over it. It was here, it was now, that was what
mattered. That and the future, and Noah had no intention of
ever knowing what anyone else felt like under him like this.

“Mine, mine, mine…” he chanted under his breath, in

rhythm with their bodies’ hard thrusts and equally hard
clenching.

“Yes, baby…I’m yours, always,” Cal said on a breath,

panting and whimpering when Noah sped his hips.

Noah lifted his head, meeting Cal’s eyes, and his free hand

slid up to cup his cheek, fingertips feathering over the
intriguing planes and angles of his face. “I’m yours, Cal, all of
me. I swear.”

Cal let out a short sobbing breath, his eyes misting with

unshed tears, and Noah smiled, shifting his angle just enough
that his next thrust hit Cal’s prostate dead on and his lover’s
eyes slammed shut as his body bowed up off the seat.

“Evil…God, fuck yes…”
Noah chuckled. God, he’d missed Cal. Everything about

him, and he felt so damned gloriously happy he could barely
contain it. He was sure he had a stupid grin permanently
painted on his face and he wanted to laugh out loud in the
middle of their intense bout of fucking. So he did, laughing
again when one of Cal’s eyes slid open to peer up at him

629 MILES TO LOVE

incredulously.

“You make me so damned happy,” Noah explained,

panting and bending his head to nudge Cal’s mouth.

An answering smile curved Cal’s lips and his lover

wrapped himself completely around him, arms and long legs,
and gentle fingers on his soul, claiming him.

“Mmmm, I could say the same.” Cal leaned up and

nuzzled his nose against Noah’s cheek, a gesture that evoked
another laugh. He’d missed the little ways Cal had always
showed him how he was feeling. “I guess that friend of
Chambers is going to have to make a glorious comeback.”

Noah’s shoulders shook with laughter and he dropped a

kiss onto Cal’s lips. “You do just that, baby. But now I want to
hear some worshiping.” He braced his hands, caught Cal with
his gaze and slammed into him again, Cal’s eyes becoming
dazed as he cried out.

Again and again, until Noah thought his skin would burst

into flame from just the force of Cal’s cries and how tight and
hot and perfect he was. Cal’s nails scored Noah’s back and
shoulders, his teeth nipped at Noah’s throat and jaw, little
stinging reminders he would carry with him for the rest of the
day. The thought made him weak.

“Fuck…fuck…God…so close…fuck.”
Noah tried to snicker, but it came out as a groan. “Your

mouth isn’t angelic anymore, love. Sounds like the devil got a
hold of you.”

Cal’s eyes gleamed and he nipped Noah’s lip hard before

sliding his hand between their bodies and starting to stroke

629 MILES TO LOVE

himself. “Oh, he has, but don’t make any decisions about how
angelic my mouth is until I’ve had a chance to get it around
your cock.”

Oh, fuck. Noah groaned and pressed his forehead against

Cal’s and let himself go. Cal had picked up a wild streak and
once they found a place with locking doors and a bed, Noah
intended on exploring every inch of that side. “Keep talking
like that, love, and we’ll never make it home.”

Noah didn’t miss the wistful look in Cal’s eyes at the

mention of home. He wanted to assure Cal that home was
together now, just in case he hadn’t already figured it out, but
it’d have to wait because the pleasure was rising, cresting and
he couldn’t hold it back.

He managed to worm a hand between them to close his

fingers on Cal’s cock, stroking awkwardly due to the cramped
quarters, but it didn’t seem to make a difference as Cal went
wild under him, gasping, his teeth catching the corner of his
full lower lip.

Noah panted hard, his eyes locked on Cal’s face. “I want

you with me, Cal… So close. Come with me, baby.” He
groaned, squeezing and stroking his lover as best he could.

Cal nodded frantically, and Noah let out a grateful heaving

breath, snapping his hips hard, his eyes closing for a moment
as the crashing wave hit before flying open and locking with
Cal’s as they both shattered.

Long seconds later that felt like hours, the waves of

throbbing pleasure ebbed and Noah sank down to his elbows

629 MILES TO LOVE

over Cal, forehead to his shoulder as he struggled to catch his
breath, every inhale flooding him with the overwhelming scent
of sex and sweat. It was heady and made his stomach flip
wildly.

“Fuck…” He groaned, shaking his head in the effort to

clear the cobwebs from his mind. He lifted his head and was
gratified to see Cal was in no better shape, his eyes dazed and
lids half-closed, his cheeks flushed.

“Yeah…” It was all the response Noah got and he had to

laugh, rocking his hips slowly as the last tremors rolled
through them both.

Cal laughed, too, and clenched, making Noah shudder.

Then he wrapped his hand around the nape of Noah’s neck
and gazed up at him, eyes fierce. He didn’t say anything, but
despite the years that had separated them, Noah read every
single word in his baby’s expression. How much Cal had
missed him, how much he loved him and was savoring this
moment.

Noah smiled, brushing his thumb over Cal’s cheek,

drinking in every part of him as Cal half-closed his eyes
before turning to kiss his thumb. He sighed and met Noah’s
eyes again, tugging him closer until their breaths mingled.
“Don’t move just yet,” Cal whispered. “I’m not ready for this
to be over.”

Noah brushed his lips over Cal’s, slid his arms under Cal’s

shoulder and held him tight. “Cal, it’s not ever going to be
over.”

629 MILES TO LOVE

Cal tucked his head between Noah’s shoulder and neck,

and Noah closed his eyes, caressing his lover’s arm and side,
and just breathed him in.

629 MILES TO LOVE

CHAPTER 5

Cal took a sip of the hot coffee and slid his arm around

Noah’s shoulders. He still couldn’t believe it was real. A part
of him kept expecting to wake up, though the dreams he’d had
of reuniting with Noah never started out so rough. He smiled.
So it had to be real. “Tell me, hotshot, what was your grand
plan to get me out of my house? I can’t imagine you were
expecting to run into me at the hospital.”

“I was going to lure you out with my exceptional good

looks and charm.” Noah winked at him, balled up the empty
Dunkin’ Donuts bag and tossed it in the back of the truck.

Cal burst out laughing and shook his head. “You’re

incorrigible.” He propped his feet on the dashboard. Damn, he

629 MILES TO LOVE

was glad Noah hadn’t opted to eat in, even though there was
still a nice nip in the air. He preferred being alone with him
right now, so after they’d cleaned themselves up and gotten
some breakfast, Noah had taken the truck out to another
secluded spot.

“That’s why you love me.” Their eyes met and the twinkle

in Noah’s dark blue eyes softened into warmth. “I knew you’d
be there, Cal. You’re just as much of a son to Dad as I am. I
knew you’d be visiting every day until he got out.”

“I’m so predictable. I guess you knew I’d cave, too, and

that’s why you were so confident.” Cal took Noah’s hand. He
couldn’t be irked at the careful manipulation; he was too
happy.

Noah shook his head and brushed his fingers over Cal’s

face. “Like hell! I was quaking inside, but one of us had to be
confident or you would’ve bolted so quick I might never have
caught up with you.”

Cal studied Noah’s face, then leaned closer and brushed a

kiss over his lips. “Maybe, but being with you in this truck
brought back a lot of memories, very good memories and
reminded me how much I loved you. I don’t think my self-
preservation instincts work very well around you.”

“You don’t need them for me, babe. I’ll take very good

care of you. I swear it.”

“You’d better. Once Tina drops her baby she’ll be faster

than you again.” Cal laid his head on Noah’s shoulder and
tried to push down the lingering insecurities in the back of his
mind. How would he adjust to living in New Mexico? Oh,

629 MILES TO LOVE

well, they’d make it work somehow. “So tell me about our
home.”

Noah looked down at him with a light in his eyes that

made Cal’s heart start pounding. He tilted his head curiously
as a slow smile spread across Noah’s face.

“Can’t do that. I haven’t seen it yet.”
Cal’s brows furrowed. “What?”
Noah shrugged, setting his coffee cup in the drink holder.

“I haven’t seen it yet.” He smiled wider at Cal’s continued
confusion. “Do you think I’m going to ask you to move to
New Mexico when I know how much you love it here? And
being back…I remember how I love it here, too.”

An inkling of understanding lit inside Cal, and his breath

quickened, though he tried to keep it in check in case he was
wrong. “Where do you plan on us living then? Do you have a
plan?”

Noah nodded, reaching out to take Cal’s hand. “I’ve had a

plan from the beginning. I ran away from this place, but I’m
done running, Cal. There’s no need anymore. There never
was. I’d hoped you wouldn’t mind if I move here, with you.
Well, more than hoped, actually. I listed my condo in
Albuquerque with a real estate agent before I left.” His smile
turned boyish. “So, you gonna make me be homeless?”

Cal blinked, startled. “You’re selling your home? But you

didn’t know if I’d… What if I’d said no?” Noah had said he
hadn’t been confident at all. Why would he sell his place
without knowing if Cal would let him back in? What if he
hadn’t?

629 MILES TO LOVE

Noah shrugged, his smile sheepish and absolutely

adorable. He looked so young. “I figured if this didn’t
work…well, I’d stay and keep trying. You think I was going
to just give it one try and then give up?” He chuckled. “You
ought to know me better than that. Besides, my folks aren’t
getting any younger, and this was kind of a wake-up call for
me, in more ways than just one. I don’t want to regret things,
Cal, not losing you and not losing time with my parents while
I still have them. So I’m moving home.”

Cal tried to take that all in. Noah’s coming home. He

started to chuckle. Even if he had been dumb enough to let
Noah walk, he wouldn’t have stood a chance. Seeing Noah
around town, at the softball games…Cal wouldn’t have stood
a chance.

“What’s that laugh for—is it a yes?” Noah voice was light,

though his eyes were hopeful, even a little vulnerable.

“What if I said your tactics were a little stalker-like?” The

joy was bubbling up, making Cal almost giddy and he couldn’t
help teasing Noah, and oh, his sweet hotshot deserved it.

“Stalker? I’d like to think of myself as persistent.”
“That you are, love. What about the cold? You said you

couldn’t take it anymore.” Cal set his coffee cup next to
Noah’s, turned toward him and wrapped his arms around him.

“If you don’t think we can generate enough heat between

us to keep me warm, I think I’m going to have to tie you to the
bed for a while and prove some things to you.”

Cal shivered. “Sounds delightful.”
Noah’s eyes narrowed and he pulled Cal onto his lap with

629 MILES TO LOVE

a low growl. “Cal! If you don’t stop teasing and say yes…” He
let the threat drift off, but Cal wasn’t intimidated in the least.

“Just to warn you, I moved out of town. There are no

neighbors within a couple of miles.”

“Good, then nobody will hear you screaming.”
Cal’s eyes stung as it really hit him. This was for real; this

was forever. He blinked his eyes and kissed Noah, pouring out
all of his crazy happiness and love for him. “Yes,” he
mumbled against his lips.

“Yes, what? I can’t think anymore after that.”
Cal laughed and kissed him again. “Liar. Yes, I want you

with me here. Yes, you have a home with me. Yes to it all.”

“About damn time.” Noah growled and kissed him this

time.

Cal sighed against his lips and tightened his arms around

him. When Noah finally released him, his whole body was on
fire again.

“When I have to leave for a project, I want you to go with

me.”

Cal smiled. “Okay.” Reluctantly he slid off Noah’s lap. As

much as he was enjoying the kissing, he wanted to get home
and lock himself away with his lover for several days. They
weren’t going to get any closer to home making out in the
front seat. “I can write my novels anywhere.”

“Good, ’cause I’m not letting you out of my sight for a

long time.” Noah pulled out onto the road, pointing the truck
south.

Cal pursed his lips and glanced at his lover. “Aren’t we

629 MILES TO LOVE

heading in the wrong direction?”

“We’ve still got some gas and frankly, I'm not ready to

face your sister yet.”

BOUT

UTHORS

Fae Sutherland has always dreamed of being a published
author, starting off her writing career at age 11 with a horrific
“Monkees” fan fiction that will, luckily for all, never see the
light of day. At age 34, she has since progressed to more
serious writing, though always keeping that dash of
irreverence and fun.

Fae tells the stories that the muses give her, but though she is
multi-published both solo and jointly, she truly does prefer
writing with her co-author Marguerite Labbe best. When she’s
not working hard on writing new stories to make her readers
sweat or slaving over edits for completed work, she spends her
time on website and graphic design, being with her closest
friends and playing The Sims 2 until the wee hours of the
morning.

* * *

Marguerite Labbe has been accused of being eccentric and a
shade neurotic, both of which she freely admits to, but her
muse has OCD tendencies, so who can blame her? Her
husband and son do an excellent job keeping her toeing the
line, though.

Together with her co-author Fae Sutherland, Marguerite has
found a shared passion for beautiful men with smart mouths.
When she’s not working hard on writing new material and
editing completed work, she spends her time reading novels of
all genres, enjoying role-playing games with her equally nutty
friends, and trying to plot practical jokes against her son and
husband. Her son is learning the tricks too quickly and likes to
retaliate. You’d think she’d learn.

Find out more about Fae and Marguerite at their website:
http://chasethedream.net

* * *

Don’t miss Fortunate Son,

available at AmberAllure.com!

They marched for peace, but found hope for the future in each
other’s arms…

Set against the backdrop of the infamous March on the
Pentagon in the fall of 1967, Fortunate Son follows Ricky
Anderson and his lover, Charlie Irvine, as they and thousands
of other idealistic anti-war protesters strive to make their
voices heard.

Haunted by the death of his older brother on the front lines in
Vietnam, Ricky’s stake in the protests is personal and painful.
Charlie, Ricky’s peace-loving hippie lover, has taught Ricky
about rallies, poetry and love. But a secret Charlie’s hidden
from Ricky since day one is about to come to light and
threaten their relationship as well as their beliefs.

MBER

UILL

RESS

, LLC

OLD

TANDARD IN

UBLISHING

UALITY

OOKS

OTH

RINT AND

LECTRONIC

ORMATS

CTION

DVENTURE

USPENSE

HRILLER

CIENCE

ICTION

ARK

ANTASY

AINSTREAM

OMANCE

ORROR

ROTICA

ANTASY

GLBT

ESTERN

YSTERY

ARANORMAL

ISTORICAL

IRECT

AVE

www.AmberQuill.com

www.AmberHeat.com

www.AmberAllure.com

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