Instead, they make do with the occasional hot liaison in the middle of the night in shady, backwoods motels where no one will catch them. And every time they do, Travis promises himself he’s done being the skeleton in Mitch’s closet, and it really will be the last time.
Now tonight, he’s had enough. He loves Mitch, but he can’t keep putting himself through this. Just one more hot night together, and then he’s gone...unless Mitch can change his mind before Travis walks out the door forever...
Genres: Gay/Contemporary/The Arts
Heat Level: 3
Length: Extended Amber Kiss (11k words)
Read a short excerpt...
...Mitch cleared his throat. “I’m glad you called.”
“Me too.”
He exhaled and stepped a little closer. “I thought you didn’t want to do this anymore.”
“I never said I didn’t want to.” Christ, he was almost close enough to touch. “Just that we probably shouldn’t.”
“That’s true.” Closer. “We definitely shouldn’t.”
“But here we are.”
He stopped, keeping a few inches between us. “You do want to be here, though, right?”
“Absolutely.” There was nowhere in the world I wanted to be more than right here with him. I took a deep breath, willing my heart to slow down and my stomach to stop contorting beneath my ribcage. “I…I do think we should settle things.”
Just like it had so many times back in our younger days, before things got so complicated, Mitch’s left eyebrow arched, and a second later, the corner of his mouth rose. “Settle them how?”
I shifted my weight to hide the shaking in my knees. “I…I’m not even sure. Figure out if we should keep doing this at all.”
“We both know we shouldn’t.”
“Yeah, but we keep coming back.”
“I know we do. I just can’t…” Mitch reached across the narrow void and touched the side of my face. He trailed his fingers down my cheek. “Travis…”
I avoided his eyes and whispered, “We’re torturing ourselves, you know.”
“We are. But I have as hard a time staying away as you do.”
I nodded. “I know.”
“If it could be different—”
“Don’t.” Shaking my head, I met his gaze. “We’ve been over this a hundred times.”
Mitch sighed. “I know. And God, I wish things could be different.”
But it couldn’t. There was no point in even going there because we both knew damn well that this thing couldn’t exist outside cheap motel rooms and secret meetings. I was already out, and whatever damage that was ever going to do to my career had been done. If I’d still been closeted, maybe we could be seen together. Play it off as two old friends catching up over coffee or something. But the media already scrutinized his every move, and they scrutinized every man who came within an arm’s length of me. While most of my male friends could just brush that off, it could never be that simple with Mitch. He could ignore it, but his public? His colleagues? Not so much.
He smoothed my hair. “We still have tonight.”
I nodded, trailing my fingers down his cheek. “This has to be the last time, though.”
“I know.” He gently grasped my hand and kissed my palm. “It will be.”
Of course it would be. It was always the last time. Before the sun came up, we’d both walk away and promise never to do this again. Again...
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