Page 33 of In at the Deep End

Adam looked up, and Owen saw the moment recognition hit. His jaw dropped, his eyes wide.

“No bloody way.” He nudged Gray, who gave Owen a cursory glance that went instantly from polite curiosity to obvious disbelief.

“Owen?” Gray lurched to his feet, grinning, his arms wide. Adam wasn’t far behind him.

Owen rose and hugged Gray. “You’re the last people I expected to see here,” he murmured, Gray’s rough cheek pressed to his.

“Hey, my turn.” Adam gave Gray a gentle shove before grabbing Owen, his burly chest as wide as Owen remembered it. “Holy fuck.”

Owen gestured to his table. “Join me?”

Adam laughed. “Try and stop us.” They took the empty seats facing Owen, and everyone sat. “Wow. This is unreal.”

“What are you guys doing here? Are you on holiday?” The last time Owen had seen them had been in Palm Springs.

Gray’s deep laughter rumbled again. “We live here. Well, not in Winchester—in Andover, about thirty minutes away.”

“You have got to be kidding me.” Cyn had nailed it. Owen needed to buy a lottery ticket, like, yesterday. “Since when?”

“We moved over to the UK last March,” Adam added.

“Yeah, as soon as November ’24 happened, the writing was on the wall.” Gray’s face tightened.

It took Owen a second or two to work out what that meant.

“We’ve got a place with enough land that I’m wondering about putting in a little golf course,” Adam told him.

Gray snorted. “He means a huge golf course.”

Adam rolled his eyes. “Nine holes, babe.”

Another snort. “Nine unnecessary holes.”

Owen laughed. “You always were an optimist.”

“Adam’s trying to get me to take up golf. He says I need a hobby. Like I don’t have enough on my plate.”

“Do you have jobs?”

Gray nodded. “I’m a paramedic. I work out of a hospital in Basingstoke.”

Owen grinned. “And are you both still making films?”

Adam grinned back. “Someone has to.”

It was Gray’s turn to roll his eyes. “I just rescue people. He corrupts them.”

Adam’s eyes sparkled. “And they’re educational films, if you don’t mind.”

Gray smirked. “Sure they are. We teach people about anatomy.”

“I still say we could’ve made you and Ben stars.” Adam sighed dramatically. “I even had stage names picked out.”

The familiar ache stirred in Owen’s chest, and for a heartbeat, grief tightened its grip. “I remember you saying that. We never asked what they were.”

“And I’ll never tell.” Adam’s grin was infectious.

Gray chuckled. “Trust me. That’s for the best.”