Catalyst (Connectivity Book 2)

by Whitney Cannon

  “Thanks, you guys,” Billy said.

  “Yeah. You guys are really cool and maybe one day, when we can finally afford to buy a rental property of our own, you guys could come back and visit again and we’d totally put you up for free. Just fly your asses out and we’ll take care of you,” Drew said with a laugh.

  With nods and agreements all around, Travis finished up the dinner and plated everything, while Jersey prepared the table on the patio. He’d set out the champagne Billy had purchased for them and Jersey finished off the table with a few candles.

  They talked and ate and Travis couldn’t believe how much he enjoyed their evening together. It was amazing to connect with another couple and make new friends in such an unexpected way.

  Once dinner was finished, Billy and Drew quite literally forced them into their bathroom to change into their swimsuits while they did the dishes, and Travis had never been so thankful to be bossed around once he got a look at Jersey’s bathing suit.

  “Holy fuck. You’re planning to kill me the night before we’re supposed to get married, aren’t you? That was your plan all along. Bring Travis all the way to Hawaii, propose marriage to him, then kill him by pulling on the skimpiest, sexiest, hottest little… is that even a bathing suit? It’s like string and fabric held together by hope. Holy shit, that’s so fuckin’ hot.”

  Jersey giggled but his expression said he knew exactly what game he was playing. “I’d never want to kill you, Trav. I love you too much to do that. I just want to tease you a little bit; make you want me more for tomorrow. You remember that little pool party we had a few weeks ago? The one where you suggested we wear something a little… smaller. We haven’t had time to go swimming again since then, but I was totally on board with trying on something else that you might like.” Jersey raised his arms slowly, bending his right arm behind his head, but he ran his left hand through his hair, like a model on a photoshoot. He closed his eyes and ran his hand from his head down over his chest and abs, then swiveled his hips and gracefully lowered himself down, circling his butt on his descent.

  Travis palmed himself through his clothing. He could already feel a bead of moisture leak from his slit and knew there was no hope of getting himself under control enough to rejoin their guests. But judging from the sizeable bulge in Jersey’s… suit, he wasn’t fairing much better.

  Travis ripped off his shirt and by the time Jersey was back up, rubbing his nipples and chest again, Travis had his shorts and underwear off.

  Jersey shot Travis a once over so full of heat, he had to grip himself just to keep things from getting too embarrassing. Jersey slithered his way over to their bag, and after a moment of searching, he pulled out a matching scrap of nothingness, then tossed it to Travis. He caught it but there would be no restraining his arousal. He was actually slightly worried that just the rubbing of the fabric against his dick would be enough to do him in, but he took several deep breaths, and even though Jersey was still over putting on his little show, Travis stepped into his garment.

  The “suit” was bright red and literally consisted of strings and a sizeable pouch for the goods that were barely contained.

  Jersey made some sexy sound that drew Travis’s attention and when he looked up, he had his lower lip between his teeth and molten lava in his eyes. That look alone puffed up Travis’s ego enough to have him put on a show of his own as he closed the distance between them.

  “Was this what you had in mind, love? Matching suits?” Travis asked, coming to a stop in front of Jersey.

  Jersey didn’t answer, but he trailed his fingertips down Travis’s chest and abs, circled his bulge, then headed toward the door. Travis followed. His man was like a flame, and he was nothing but a helpless moth caught up in his dance. In less than twenty-four hours he would be married to that tempting siren, and Travis had never been so ready to get burned. He hoped Billy and Drew didn’t mind a little show because they were about to get one.

  ~

  “I wasn’t sure what outfit you would want to get married in, so I packed a couple of choices for us to decide on together,” Jersey said as they sorted out their clothes the next morning.

  After they’d left the bathroom the night before, Billy and Drew had made a hasty exit with promises to be in touch and a swift door slam. He and Jersey had spent an unknown amount of time in the hot tub, holding and touching and kissing each other, which had gotten a little awkward with Jersey’s cast, but they’d managed. And after they’d all but turned into prunes, they’d gone for a moonlit stroll down their beach. They’d shared so many tender words and talked long into the night about their lives and their future, but eventually, they’d just snuggled into bed together and drifted off, knowing the next day would be the biggest of their lives.

  So as they prepared for their departure from the guest house, Jersey rummaged through the second of the two bags he’d packed. He’d asked Travis not to look in the second one yet and apparently, the time had finally arrived to see what Jersey had up his sleeve.

  He unzipped their second bag and Travis was floored by what Jersey pulled out.

  “Babe, you packed all this?” Travis asked, looking over all the choices laid out on the bed. Jersey had packed the clothes they’d each worn the first time they’d met, the suits they’d worn to Cory and Josh’s wedding, and two matching black-and-white Hawaiian shirts that Travis had never seen before.

  Jersey nodded with a soft smile on his face. “This was the first outfit I ever saw you in,” he said, brushing his fingers over the white button-up shirt and crisp black shorts Travis had worn the night of Cory and Josh’s bachelor party. “I thought you looked so hot with your gorgeous skin tone against the white of your shirt and your amazing smile with your crazy white teeth and that dimple. Gah, it’s a wonder how I didn’t turn into a babbling pile of mush just sitting at the same table as you. I was so nervous to be near you, but I was dying to talk to you at the same time.”

  “You were nervous to talk to me?”

  “Mmm hmm,” Jersey nodded and came over, resting his hands on Travis’s chest. “I was a little nervous all around because I was going to meet up with a group of guys I’d never met before, but I wanted to be there for Josh. He was like my brother and everyone else at the bachelor thing was there for Cory. I wasn’t worried they wouldn’t like me or anything because I figured I’d never see most of them again anyway. But then I see Josh and Cory wearing their little sashes and I think, I am going to love whoever got those for them. Then I walk up to the table and there’s the most gorgeous guy, with his silky mocha skin, dark brown eyes, and from what I could see, a stunning body.” Jersey looked into Travis’s eyes. “And when I got up the courage to talk to the man who’d taken my breath away… he smiled at me. I’d never really believed you could have a moment like that, like one moment you knew would change your life, but that was my moment. I’d barely learned your name but figured you had to be at least halfway decent to be such good friends with Cory and Josh, and I didn’t know if you liked guys or not, but then you casually drop in that you were single and I knew I needed to get your number. I knew I needed to talk to you again.”

  “I knew I needed to talk to you again too,” Travis said softly, holding Jersey’s neck between his palms and gently rubbing his thumbs along his jaw. He pressed a soft kiss to Jersey’s lips. “I felt almost exactly the same way when I first saw you. I’d never experienced an attraction like that before, and I thought we’d had the best chemistry at the wedding. If you hadn’t have texted me that day asking to meet up for lunch, I would have approached Josh for your number as well. God, I’d had so many dreams about you that my right hand had definitely been getting a workout.” Jersey laughed and Travis smiled at him. “I’d never have dreamed that we’d end up here, though. Going from having lunch together, to dating, to falling in love. And to top it all off, finding out that you were my Complement all along? I can hardly put into words what that means to me, what you mean to me. I’ll never love anything
like I love you. It wasn’t chance that brought you into my life, Michael, it was fate.”

  “Mmm, Michael… Maybe I am ready to start our new life together as Michael Thomas Fitzwilliams. I know Jersey is still here, but I don't think I’m the same person anymore. I’m more settled now, more confident. Maybe Michael is who I’ve been becoming all along,” Jersey mused. “It’s all kind of surreal, isn’t it? When fate intervenes like that? Then without you knowing it, fate just happens to send you the one person you’re going to give your heart to. But when you find out that what you thought was your whole heart, is really only half of it, and all along, that person has already had half your heart? You wonder how you’d ever lived without those pieces. You are those pieces to me, Trav. You are the other half of my heart and the other half of my soul, and I’ll love you forever because of it.”

  Jersey pushed up on his toes and kissed him like they’d just said their final vows. And maybe they had. Maybe they’d told each other exactly what they meant to one another from their hearts and just for them.

  When they dressed and committed to each other at their ceremony later that day, it would be for technicality sake. Travis would certainly cherish those moments and have the pictures to display throughout their lifetime, but for him, the little declarations they’d just exchanged, when no one else was around… Those words would be what he’d think of, years later, when he looked back on the most important day of their lives.

  -The End-

  -About the Author-

  Whitney Cannon is a new author with a love for gay romance novels. Over the years, her love for reading about boys who love boys turned into a desire to write her own stories and characters. After re-enrolling in the local community college for writing classes, she became a published author of her first short story which was a celebration of Pride month and belonging.

  Her first novel, Connectivity, was published in October of 2018.

  When she's not reading or writing, Whitney plays house with her family at her true job of being a stay-at-home mother.

  You can find Whitney Cannon at:

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/whitneycannonauthor

  Website: She Loves M/M Books

  Email: whitneycannonauthor@gmail.com

  -More Books by Whitney Cannon-

  Belong (Pride 18)

  In the spirit of Pride 2018, we all wish to belong somehow, somewhere. The ultimate satisfaction one could enjoy is belonging and fitting it, knowing one's place in the big scheme of things. Check out these stories from Whitney Cannon and L.B La Vigne that would blow your mind away.

  Vanilla by Whitney Cannon

  Blurb:

  Wendel has struggled his whole life to fit in. His stutter has always left him with few if any friends; none of them boyfriends. Surviving in a life of solitude, Wendel needs to decide if risking the sanctuary he has created for himself is worth sharing his darkest truths. Can he step out of the shield he hides behind to give someone the chance to accept him for who he really is? Or, will the results of how he’s been treated in the past, keep him from taking a chance on another rejection?

  Vanilla by Whitney Cannon

  Connectivity by Whitney Cannon

  Blurb:

  Josh is out and proud at his private prep school. The only problem with that is there’s no one who’s boyfriend material. He spends his weekends volunteering at the hospital, and one particular weekend, something happens that will change his life forever… He finds a gorgeous boy lying in a hospital bed who can’t seem to stay awake without him.

  Through friends, family, and graduation, how will Cory and Josh handle needing each other, when they don’t even know each other. With their lives turned upside down, they learn to navigate the Connection they share.

  Will they receive the support they need, in light of their unique circumstances? Will all their friendships survive? Or will their new relationship prove too much for some to handle?

  mybook.to/ConnectivityC1