Toxic (The Complete Series): Contemporary Gay Romance

by Kensie King

  The same song from when we’d been teenagers.

  His voice went straight to my soul, like he was singing it just for me. Or maybe for us.

  In that moment, I knew my true feelings about Nate.

  Bea leaned in next to me as I stared at Nate. “Did you figure it out?” she whispered.

  I did. It hit me then, the epiphany I’d been waiting for.

  My heart swelled in my chest. Every word Nate sang pummeled me, and all I could do was stand there until he finished singing.

  “I’ll be right back,” I told Bea.

  Her mouth dropped open when I hurried around the counter and straight to the stage.

  Nate started to announce the next song, but then saw me and faltered.

  “I’d like to say something,” I told him.

  He looked at me and then the microphone, confusing spreading across his features.

  “An announcement,” I said.

  He glanced at Sean and then Bea, like they might have some sort of clue what was happening. Before he could do anything else, I hurried onto the stage, even though my heart was beating out of my chest.

  The microphone squealed with feedback when I stepped up to it. I winced but tilted it so I could speak. My voice wobbled with the first words, but I knew what I had to do.

  “So, a few of you might have been here when Nate boldly announced that he wanted me to go on a date with him.”

  Someone whistled and a few people chuckled. It encouraged me to keep going.

  “And guess what? I said yes. In front of all of you, I said I’d go on that date.”

  “Good for you!” a woman yelled.

  I nodded. “It was. It was good. And then something happened that I never thought would happen in a million years.”

  I turned to Nate, making eye contact with him. “I fell in love,” I said.

  The crowd erupted in cheers, startling me. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Bea with her mouth still open.

  And then Nate, his eyes tortured but hopeful.

  “So now,” I told the crowd, “I’m showing him how much that first date meant to me. And how it was just the beginning of what I hope is going to be something wonderful. Nate.”

  His lips parted. “Yes?”

  “I love you.”

  More cheers erupted from the crowd. I released the microphone and stepped up to Nate.

  “I’m so sorry,” I told him. “I don’t want to move and I’m not going to accept that other job. I want to be here with you.”

  “Are you sure?”

  I nodded. “More sure than anything else in my life.”

  Nate turned to Sean. “Take over for me a minute?”

  Sean strummed a few chords on his guitar with a smile and the crowd clapped as Nate grabbed my hand and pulled me off stage. He led me to the hallway at the back of the bar, not stopping until we were out the door and standing in the cool evening air.

  I couldn’t even take a breath before his lips were on mine. His tongue plunged into my mouth, tangling with mine. The thrill of relief and arousal that brought me made my whole body come alive.

  “Wait,” I murmured, leaning back to catch my breath. To see his face.

  “Sorry.” Nate cupped my face between his hands. “I’m sorry. I just—God, I’ve missed you and—”

  “I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to do.”

  “But you know now?”

  “I do. I know that I love you. I want to give this a chance.”

  Nate exhaled and then rested his forehead against mine. “I’m so happy to hear you say that.”

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t say anything before.”

  “Please,” Nate whispered. “Don’t apologize. I know it was fast—”

  “No, it wasn’t. I’ve felt that way about you a long time, but it was hard to separate my feelings from back then with my feelings now.” I kissed him gently on the lips. “But now I know that I was in love with both of you. The you from back then and the you that you are now.”

  His lips curved. “I like how you explained that.”

  “It’s true.”

  Nate put his arms around me, and I let myself relax in his embrace. I’d never thought coming home would bring me right back to the boy I loved and the man he’d become.

  “You know what,” Nate murmured. “I love you, too.”

  “I do.”

  And it was the best feeling in the world.

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