Travis Conners is a firefighter who barely made it through high school. Why would Anthony Pappas, an adorable second grade teacher, be interested in him? Travis is willing to find out, if Anthony will give him a chance.
Being descended from a goddess, Anthony Pappas possesses a unique gift—he can tell when people are lying. Sounds good, until your boyfriends all end up lying to you. Anthony's tired of it. It's easier not to get involved than to have your heart broken time and time again.
When a little redheaded boy brings the men together, these two heroes will have to find the courage to take a leap of faith and follow their hearts...
Genres: Gay/Contemporary Fantasy
Heat Level: 3
Length: Extended Novella (30k words)
Read a short excerpt...
...In the hall, he stopped and leaned against a spot not covered in artwork or posters, waiting for Anthony to join him. When the teacher came out of the door, he was speaking to a woman, a very pretty woman, and even Travis could see this person had eyes for Anthony.
Deep inside him, for no reason Travis could name, jealousy rose up and stiffened Travis’s spine. He pushed off the door as his fists clenched.
Anthony smiled, nodded toward Travis and said something. The woman nodded, but she didn’t look happy. Travis just smiled at her as Anthony turned and walked toward him.
“You wanted to ask me something?” Travis said.
Anthony came up to him and leaned against the wall, almost in a mimicry of Travis’s pose.
“Yeah. Look, I just wanted to tell you about a drawing Rusty did last term. It was a fall scene, and he drew a cemetery. I sort of wondered about it, and now, thanks to you, I think I can safely say, Rusty isn’t a troubled kid.”
“You thought—” Travis frowned.
“I’ve only met his mom and never his father. I had no idea his dad had died.” Anthony shook his head. “This explains a lot. Tell your sister if she needs anything, let me know. I want to support her and Rusty any way I can.”
“Wow. Well.” Travis cleared his throat. “That’s really good of you. I’ll let her know. Rusty needs good male role models in his life. I’m glad you’re his teacher.”
“He’s got a pretty wonderful model right here.” Anthony gave him a warm smile.
“Naw. I’m just a firefighter.” Travis shrugged. Warmth filled his face, damn it, and he wanted to rub the blush off with his hands, but he kept them folded over his chest.
“You’re—amazing! And not just an ‘anything.’ A lot of guys would’ve stood up there and talked about themselves. You could’ve impressed the class with your fire outfit and hat.”
“It’s called a turn-out coat and helmet,” Travis corrected him.
Anthony took it well. “Right. I’ll make a note of the proper names for future reference.” He smiled up at Travis.
They stood there, leaning against the wall, less than two feet apart, staring into each other’s eyes. The urge to lean down and capture those full lips almost took control of Travis.
BRRRIIINNNGGGG!
Anthony and Travis jumped apart at the school bell right above them.
“Dang!” Travis held his hands over his ears. “That’s louder than the alarm at the station!”
Anthony laughed. “You get used to it. After a while.” Travis glared at him. “Okay, not really. It still scares the heck out of me.”
They laughed. The hall filled with kids and adults moving to their classrooms.
“You have to get back to class, right?”
Anthony nodded, but he didn’t leave. “I was thinking…would you want to have coffee sometime?”
“What?” Travis’s voice squeaked like a mouse.
Anthony leaned in. “I’m not wrong, am I? About you wanting to have coffee with me?”
“No, you’re not wrong.” Travis dug in his breast pocket and pulled out a business card. “Here’s my cell number and the number at the station. Call me.”
Anthony took it, looked it over and glanced back up at Travis. “I will.”
“Good.”
Anthony turned, stepped into the flow of children, and it swept him down the hall. Travis walked off, against the wall, fighting the surge like a salmon swimming upstream, to the front office to check out.
All the way there and to the station, he couldn’t stop smiling...
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