Laugh Cry Repeat
Page 22
In the silence of Deeze’s prayer, Wyeth pressed his lips to the stubble already blossoming on Deeze’s cheek. Only then did Deeze offer an answer.
“I did like her,” he muttered softly. “She was one of a kind. And she was brave. She fought her battle with cancer on her own terms and never once complained about it. Well, not to me anyway.” His mouth puckered into a mischievous grin. “Lord knows what hell she put her doctors through.”
“I’m sorry she’s gone,” Wyeth said.
Deeze’s arms tightened around him. “So am I, baby. So am I.”
A moment of silence settled over them, then Wyeth rose up onto one elbow, lifting himself higher to get a panoramic view of Deeze’s perfect face. A shimmer of light sparked in his eyes, a precursor to tears.
“I never knew living could be like this, Deeze. I never knew I could be this happy.”
Deeze trailed a fingertip over Wyeth’s moist lips. They were red and swollen from kissing his bristly face. “This happy or this rich,” he whispered back.
Wyeth grinned. “Yeah. That too.” He leaned into Deeze’s touch, brushed his lips over Deeze’s smile. “It’s a rollercoaster, isn’t it? Life, I mean. One minute you’re up, the next minute you’re down. Then you do it all over again.”
“Laugh, cry, repeat,” Deeze murmured. As always, with Wyeth in his arms, his voice was a contented purr.
Wyeth lowered himself back down to the bed and laid his cheek to Deeze’s chest at the spot where he could best hear Deeze’s heart pumping life beneath him.
As the rain pummeled the windows and Chaucer and Napoleon played quietly in the corner—friends at last, at least for the moment—Deeze and Wyeth cuddled their way to stillness.
“Sleep, baby,” Wyeth gently coaxed, brushing his fingers through Deeze’s curly hair.
Deeze gave a short happy sigh and closed his eyes. When sleep did find him, it was dreamless and sweet. Wyeth watched him until his own eyes closed.
When they awoke hours later, they made love. Just as they always did.
And with a little luck, just as they always would.
More from John Inman
It’s not easy breaking into show biz. Especially when you aren’t exactly loaded with talent. But Malcolm Fox won’t let a little thing like that hold him back.
Actually, it isn’t the show-business part of his life that bothers him as much as the romantic part—or the lack thereof. At twenty-six, Malcolm has never been in love. He lives in San Diego with his roommate, Beth, another struggling actor, and each of them is just as unsuccessful as the other. While Malcolm toddles off to this audition and that, he ponders the lack of excitement in his life. The lack of purpose. The lack of a man.
Then Beth’s brother moves in.
Freshly imported from Missouri of all places, Cory Williams is a towering hunk of muscles and innocence, and Malcolm is gobsmacked by the sexiness of his new roomie from the start. When infatuation enters the picture, Malcolm knows he’s really in trouble. After all, Cory is straight!
At least, that’s the general consensus.
Ashley James and Tucker Lee have been friends for years. They are city boys but long for life on the open trail. During a three-hundred-mile hike from the Southern California desert to the mountains around Big Bear Lake, they make some pretty amazing discoveries.
One of those discoveries is love. A love that has been bubbling below the surface for a very long time.
But love isn’t all they find. They also stumble upon a war—a war being waged by Mother Nature and fought tooth and claw around an epidemic of microbes and fury.
With every creature in sight turning against them, can they survive this battle and still hold on to each other? Or will the most horrifying virus known to man lay waste to more than just wildlife this time?
Will it destroy Ash and Tucker too?
When it rains, it pours. Not only has Larry Walls been evicted from his apartment, but his hours have also been cut at the department store where he works, leaving him facing homelessness.
Meanwhile, Bo Lansing, a total stranger to Larry, toils at a dead-end job as a fry cook while attending night classes to become a certified chef. When the school closes its doors without warning, leaving Bo in the lurch for thousands of dollars in tuition, his dream of becoming a chef is shattered and his financial troubles spiral.
Desperate for a new beginning, each man answers an ad for live-in help posted by a wealthy recluse, and wonder of wonders, they are both hired! Just as their lives begin to improve, a young Kumeyaay Indian named Jimmy Blackstone joins the workforce at the Stanhope mansion.
When Mr. Stanhope’s true reason for hiring the young men is discovered by one of the three, a fourth entity makes its presence known.
Greed.
With all these players vying for position in a game of intrigue orchestrated by one lonely old man and a mischievous ghost, can a simple thing like love ever hope to survive the fray?
Robert Johnny just turned thirty, and his life is pretty much in the toilet. His writing career is on the skids. His love life is nonexistent. A stalker is driving him crazy. And his cat is a pain in the ass.
Then Robert orders a chimichanga platter at a neighborhood restaurant, and his life changes—just like that.
Dario Martinez isn’t having such a great existence either. He needs money for college. His shoes are falling apart. His boyfriend’s a dick. And he has a crap job as a busboy.
Then a stranger orders a chimichanga platter, and suddenly life isn’t quite as depressing.
But it’s the book in the busboy’s back pocket that really gets the ball rolling. For both our heroes. That and the black eye and the forgotten bowl of guacamole. Who knew true love could be so easily ignited or that the flames would spread so quickly?
But when Robert’s stalker gets dangerous, our two heroes find a lot more to occupy their time than falling in love. Staying alive might become the new game plan.
Danny Sims is in over his head, torn between his abusive lover, Joshua, and Jay Holtsclaw, the bartender up the street, who offers Danny the one thing he never gets at home: understanding.
When Joshua threatens to get rid of Danny’s terrier, Danny knows he has to act fast. Afraid of what Joshua will do to the dog and afraid of what Joshua will do to him if he tries to leave, Danny does the only thing he can do.
He runs.
But Danny isn’t a complete fool. He has enough sense to run into the arms of the man who actually cares for him—the man he’s beginning to trust.
Just as their lives together are starting to fall into place, Danny and Jay learn how vengeful Joshua can be.
And how dangerous.
Readers love John Inman
The Hike
“The Hike is one of my favorite stories of the year so far.”
—Joyfully Jay
“John Inman might just be at the top of my ‘must read’ list of authors.”
—Love Bytes
Love Wanted
“This book simply blew me away. The writing and storytelling were outstanding, and I couldn’t take my eyes off it once I started.”
—OptimuMM
“Love Wanted is a superbly written story and left me happy and smiling, wishing for more. Always a good sign of a book worth reading.”
—The Novel Approach
My Dragon, My Knight
“If you’re a fan of well-written suspense, don’t mind a bit of bloodshed and love a heart stopping, edge of your seat climax where you’re cheering for the villain to get what’s coming, this is one book you’ll want to pick up.”
—Sinfully: Gay Romance Book Reviews
“It was definitely a very emotional book but so very good at the same time.”
—Gay Book Reviews
JOHN INMAN has been writing fiction since he was old enough to hold a pencil. He and his partner live in beautiful San Diego, California. Together, they share a passion for theater, books, hiking and biking along the trail
s and canyons of San Diego or, if the mood strikes, simply kicking back with a beer and a movie. John’s advice for anyone who wishes to be a writer? “Set time aside to write every day and do it. Don’t be afraid to share what you’ve written. Feedback is important. When a rejection slip comes in, just tear it up and try again. Keep mailing stuff out. Keep writing and rewriting and then rewrite one more time. Every minute of the struggle is worth it in the end, so don’t give up. Ever. Remember that publishers are a lot like lovers. Sometimes you have to look a long time to find the one that’s right for you.”
You can contact John at john492@att.net, on Facebook: www.facebook.com/john.inman.79, or on his website: www.johninmanauthor.com
By John Inman
Acting Up
Chasing the Swallows
A Hard Winter Rain
Head-on
The Hike
Hobbled
Jasper’s Mountain
Laugh Cry Repeat
Love Wanted
Loving Hector
My Busboy
My Dragon, My Knight
Paulie
Payback
The Poodle Apocalypse
Scrudge & Barley, Inc.
Shy
Spirit
Sunset Lake
Two Pet Dicks
THE BELLADONNA ARMS
Serenading Stanley
Work in Progress
Coming Back
Ben and Shiloh
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.
Laugh Cry Repeat
© 2017 John Inman.
Cover Art
© 2017 Reese Dante.
http://www.reesedante.com
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.
ISBN: 978-1-63533-633-7
Digital ISBN: 978-1-63533-634-4
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017910299
Published December 2017
v. 1.0
Printed in the United States of America