Mele Kalikimaka
Page 10
“I so wanted to dance with my wife,” said a young woman, nodding to the lady beside her. “Thank you so much.”
After that, Chandler had to step outside.
And who should join him?
Timothy Armbruster, the devil himself.
“I brought you a drink. I thought you could use it.” He stepped up beside Chandler, who was standing looking out over Kansas City’s skyline.
“I already have one,” Chandler said stiffly.
“Looks to me like you’re about done with it.”
Which, dammit, he was. He slugged it back.
Timothy handed him a glass of wine.
“You’re fired,” Chandler said.
“No, I’m not.”
Chandler glared at him. He couldn’t help it.
They stood for a long time and drank their wine. A snowflake drifted by. Then a second. A third. Chandler’s breath frosted in a plume around him.
“I liked your speech,” Timothy said.
A jolt went through Chandler. “You did?”
“A lot.”
Another pause.
“And I think Chelsey, if it all works out—and you might have to fight for it—is going to turn Buckingham Industries into a force to be reckoned with all over the world. Just make sure she doesn’t forget about the LGBT.”
Pause.
“I won’t.”
Pause.
“Why did you do it, Tim?”
“Do what?”
“You know exactly what I mean. Stick me with that room. Flying coach. A bicycle, for God’s sake?”
The next pause seemed to go on forever.
“A dorm room was enough for you once, Chandler.”
Chandler stiffened again. Remembered. Remembered that he and Tim met the first day of college when they’d been assigned the same room. And that dorm room had been enough. It had never seemed too small or cramped. He smiled, remembering how much fun he’d had. How much fun they’d had, and…
Wait. Wait a minute.
He had ended it. Ended their relationship.
Revenge? Had it all been about revenge? Had Tim been holding a grudge all this time?
“You were mad that I broke up with you?” he asked. “You did that because—”
Tim laughed. “No, Chandler. I didn’t do that to get back at you for something that happened ten years ago.” He looked at Chandler and shook his head. “Yeah. I loved you. Sure I did. You breaking up with me hurt like hell. I’ve compared every single guy I’ve dated since with you. And that’s pretty stiff competition. But let’s be real. We were never going to work out.”
Chandler didn’t know what to say.
“And see? You made it all about you again. That I was getting revenge on you? For breaking up with me?”
Once more Chandler didn’t know what to say. But as he thought about it, it did seem to be pretty silly.
“No, Chandler. You breaking up with me was the best thing you ever did for me. It allowed us to become friends. And as friends I didn’t have to worry about you eventually really breaking my heart. Or seducing me into your lifestyle. You were getting tired of our little dorm room. You wanted different things than I did. All I ever needed was a studio apartment.”
To Chandler’s sudden and complete shock, he realized that a dorm room and a studio apartment marked the best times of his life.
He turned and looked at his friend.
“That guy you were sitting with. He’s pretty hot. And he was looking at you like you were his sun and moon. If I were you, I wouldn’t be standing out here. I’d be in there.” Tim cocked his thumb over his shoulder. “Dancing with him.”
Chandler smiled. Nodded.
“I expect a bonus next year.”
Chandler laughed.
And nodded again.
Then he kissed his friend’s cheek and went inside.
He found Micah leaning against a pillar and watching the dancing.
“Mele Kalikimaka,” he said.
Micah turned and smiled. “Want to dance?”
“I sure do,” he replied and let Micah lead him out onto the dance floor.
And a life better than he could ever have imagined.
B.G. THOMAS lives in Kansas City with his husband of more than a decade and their fabulous little dog. He is lucky enough to have a lovely daughter as well as many extraordinary friends. He has a great passion for life.
B.G. loves romance, comedies, fantasy, science fiction, and even horror—as far as he is concerned, as long as the stories are character driven and entertaining, it doesn’t matter the genre. He has gone to literature conventions his entire adult life where he’s been lucky enough to meet many of his favorite writers. He has made up stories since he was a child; it is where he finds his joy.
In the nineties, he wrote for gay magazines but stopped because the editors wanted all sex without plot. “The sex is never as important as the characters,” he says. “Who cares what they are doing if we don’t care about them?” Excited about the growing male/male romance market, he began writing again. Gay men are what he knows best, after all—since he grew out of being a “practicing” homosexual long ago. He submitted a story and was thrilled when it was accepted in four days. Since then the stories have poured out of him. “It’s like I’m somehow making up for a lifetime’s worth of stories!”
“Leap, and the net will appear” is his personal philosophy and his message to all. “It is never too late,” he states. “Pursue your dreams. They will come true!”
Website/blog: bthomaswriter.wordpress.com
NOAH WILLOUGHBY has heard all the jokes about his name, e.g. “Where’s your ark?” Born in Washington State during the eighties, the greatest decade for music, Noah is an introvert, spending a lot of his time observing the human world in all of its bizarre glory.
With an interest in books, movies, shows, and music that span many different genres, his imagination is getting into gear with stories of humanity in its many forms. He has been interested in storytelling from a young age and is compelled to finally get his ideas on paper.
Website: nwleo86.wixsite.com/noahwilloughby
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Noah-Willoughby/501389059993156
Twitter: @NoahWilloughby
By B.G. Thomas
All Alone in a Sea of Romance
All Snug
Anything Could Happen
The Beary Best Holiday Party Ever
Bianca’s Plan
The Boy Who Came In From the Cold
Christmas Cole
Christmas Wish
Derek
Desert Crossing
Grumble Monkey and the Department Store Elf
Hound Dog and Bean
How Could Love Be Wrong?
It Had to Be You
Just Guys
With Noah Willoughby: Mele Kalikimaka
Men of Steel (Dreamspinner Anthology)
A More Perfect Union (Multiple Author Anthology)
Red
Riding Double (Dreamspinner Anthology)
A Secret Valentine
Soul of the Mummy
Editor: A Taste of Honey (Dreamspinner Anthology)
Two Tickets to Paradise (Dreamspinner Anthology)
Until I Found You
GOTHIKA
Bones (Multiple Author Anthology)
Spirit (Multiple Author Anthology)
Contact (Multiple Author Anthology)
SEASONS OF LOVE
Spring Affair
Summer Lover
Autumn Changes
Winter Heart
Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
By Noah Willoughby
With B.G. Thomas: Mele Kalikimaka
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.dream
spinnerpress.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.
Mele Kalikimaka
© 2016 B.G. Thomas & Noah Willoughby.
Cover Art
© 2016 Catt Ford.
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: 978-1-63533-185-1
Published December 2016
v. 1.0
Printed in the United States of America