Being With Him
Page 15
Alex and Zeb locked eyes and smiled.
“Don’t bother answering,” Luca said. “You guys are practically glowing.”
“Thanks to you,” Zeb said.
“Really? Other than introduce you, what did I do?”
“You showed me a new way to live,” Zeb explained. “I’d still be hiding in the closet without your shining example.”
“Aww, that makes me all gooey inside,” Luca said.
“Take the compliment like a gentleman,” Chyna scolded, throwing a french fry in his direction.
Luca laughed. “You know I love you, newb. Even if you can’t fold for shit.”
“Don’t even start,” Zeb protested. “You’ll make me look bad in front of my boyfriend.”
“That’ll never happen,” Alex assured him. “You have my undying devotion despite your piss-poor housekeeping.”
Zeb’s mouth dropped open. “You traitor.”
Alex yanked Zeb close, hooked an arm around his neck, and drew him in for the most unapologetic PDA ever. Ignoring everyone but the man in his arms, he kissed the ever-loving fuck out of him. When they broke apart to catch a breath, Zeb looked dazed.
“I love you,” Zeb whispered, thumbing Alex’s lower lip.
“Je t’aime plus, shoushou.”
“Aaand here we go,” Zeb mock complained. “Boner-inducing French when I’m about to board a bus.”
“You guys are ridiculous,” Chyna said, shaking his head. “Can’t take you out in public anymore.”
“Better deal with the problem right now,” Luca said, giving Alex a pointed look. “I don’t want to hear him whining all the way home.”
Alex stood and hauled Zeb off the chair. “We’ll be back in a flash.”
“Take your time.”
More from Mickie B. Ashling
Horizons Series: Book One
College football player Clark Stevens, a popular wide receiver with a potential NFL contract, has a few problems. He’s got a jealous girlfriend, a narrow-minded and controlling father, an attention problem, and an unexpected and powerful attraction to the trauma doctor—the male trauma doctor—who treats him for a broken bone.
Dr. Jody Williams is getting some really mixed signals. He can’t ignore how much he wants Clark, because it’s obvious Clark feels the same way. For the out and proud doctor, the solution seems very simple. For Clark, it’s not! His world is not gay-friendly, and the obstacles he’s faced have led him to deny his sexuality for years.
It’s the Super Bowl of disasters, no matter how you look at it. In the end, Clark has to decide if he’s going to stick with the only life he’s ever known or take a chance on a new one with Jody.
Horizons Series: Book Two
What should have been a brief interlude turns into something deeper when Lil Lampert meets Grier Dilorio at the Taste of Chicago. Lil is in town visiting good friends Jody Williams and Clark Stevens, and he didn’t plan to hook up with a younger man and discover a mutual love for architecture, interior design, and a unique sexual kink that keeps Lil coming back for more.
By all appearances, Grier is the quintessential bad boy who loves speed, tattoos, and leather, but Lil slowly uncovers another side: selfless, responsible, and tender, especially for Luca, the son he’s had to deny. With Lil’s love and support, Grier will make a decision key to opening the door to a possible future together, one that includes fatherhood, something Lil has dreamed of but has never dared to explore.
Sequel to Taste
Horizons Series: Book Three
Six months after meeting at the Taste of Chicago, Lil Lampert and Grier Dilorio are living together. Their physical bond glows brighter than ever, but the couple soon realizes that it takes more than three magic words and outstanding sex to make a partnership work.
Like any fledgling, Grier is learning how to navigate his new life. His problems should have ended when Jillian signed the papers acknowledging him as Luca’s biological father and he got the opportunity to pursue a career in interior design. Instead, he’s hampered by old fears and bad habits that are hard to let go.
Adjusting to a small apartment in a four-season state—with a much younger man sporting a stubborn streak—is a challenge for Lil. His position as Luca’s “Daddio” is a delicate balancing act between doing what he thinks is right and deferring to Grier’s eight years of experience.
Life is stressed enough, but now Lil and Grier also face an unexpected complication from a powerful, far-reaching ruling body. Suddenly Luca’s safety—and their happiness as an emerging family—depends on Lil’s keen understanding of human nature and Grier’s willingness to learn.
Horizons Series: Book Four
Lil Lampert’s forty-fifth birthday turns the effervescent architect into a brooding mess, and his partner, Grier Dilorio, takes him to Italy to help him regain his zest for life. The timing is bad—almost-fifteen-year-old Luca has just started high school, and his mother and stepfather are also traveling. Luca is left in the care of Chicago Bear, Clark Stevens, and his partner, Dr. Jody Williams.
Growing up with two dads and two gay uncles has given Luca a unique perspective on gender roles, but not all the answers. He’s had a secret crush on his straight best friend, Chip, for years. Suddenly, Luca finds himself attracted to Chyna, Chip’s twin sister. Now he’s wondering if this means he’s bisexual.
Born with a sexual development disorder, Chyna should have been raised as a male, but due to an epic parenting fail, is being raised as female. Hiding the truth becomes more difficult when Chyna hits puberty, and crushing over Luca adds another element to Chyna’s struggle to fit in.
Is Luca’s moral compass strong enough to guide him successfully through this period of discovery or will he succumb to peer pressure and shatter Chyna’s dreams for happiness?
Dr. Ed Hollingsworth, widowed for five years, returns to San Sebastián, Spain, after a thirty-year absence. He seeks out his first and only male lover, pro surfer Javi Elizalde.
After surviving a near-fatal shark attack, Javi turned his back on the sport he loves and became a recluse.
Iker Lizaso, professional jai alai player, finds himself at loose ends now that his contract has expired. Forced to retire at thirty-eight, he returned to his home in the Basque Country to figure out what to do with the rest of his life.
Three different men, encumbered by their past, converge in a city famous for its food, summer festivals, and romantic promenades. Can they find happiness together? It’ll be difficult, maybe even improbable, considering their backgrounds, but Cupid’s arrow usually hits the mark, and this particular strike might be epic.
MICKIE B. ASHLING is the pseudonym of a multifaceted woman who is a product of her upbringing in multiple cultures, having lived in Japan, the Philippines, Spain, and the Middle East. Fluent in three languages, she’s a citizen of the world and an interesting mixture of East and West. A little bit of this and a lot of that have brought a unique touch to her literary voice she could never learn from textbooks.
By the time Mickie discovered her talent for writing, real life got in the way, and the business of raising four sons took priority. With the advent of e-publishing—and the inevitable emptying nest—dreams of becoming a published writer were resurrected and she’s never looked back.
She stumbled into the world of men who love men in 2002 and continues to draw inspiration from their ongoing struggle to find equality and happiness in this oftentimes skewed and intolerant world. Her award-winning novels have been called “gut-wrenching, daring, and thought provoking.” She admits to being an angst queen and making her men work damn hard for their happy endings.
Mickie currently resides in a suburb outside Chicago.
Email: mickie.ashling@gmail.com
Website: mickieashling.com
Blog: mickiebashling.blogspot.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mickie.ashling
Twitter: @MickieAshling
By Mickie B. Ashling
Enforcing Emo
ry
Gnarly
Mayon
One Pulse (Dreamspinner Anthology)
Yesterday
BASQUE TRILOGY
Loving Edits
Tono
Momentos: Mick’s Journey
BAY AREA PROFESSIONALS
Impacted!
Bonds of Love
Fractured
Forged in Trust
CUTTING CORDS
Cutting Cords
Vessel
Cleave
Cutting Out
HORIZONS SERIES
Horizons
Taste
Daddio
Chyna Doll
Being With Him
THE OPEN SERIES
Open Seating
Open House
Open Case
POLO
Fire Horse
Ride-Off
The Sixth Chukker
Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
Published by
DREAMSPINNER PRESS
5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Being With Him
© 2017 Mickie B. Ashling.
Cover Art
© 2017 Kanaxa.
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.
Digital ISBN: 978-1-64080-051-9
Published December 2017
v. 1.0
Printed in the United States of America