Jeez... What the hell had happened to me? The twink was totally bringing out my protective side.
Something, I had to admit, they were prone to do... Twinks to my mind were all about drama – so Franz being a student of performing arts wasn’t exactly a big surprise. I’d spent the best part of the previous Christmas break watching River, Jodie and Jake destroying each other’s lives – and one particular argument I’d managed to overhear – since everyone seemed to think that a closed door couldn’t be heard through – was carried out right outside the club between Jodie and Jake and I kind of knew then that they would never recover. I’d caught up with River shortly afterwards. He’d been having a drink with Jake after Jodie had left. Everything was beginning to fall apart and I guessed that River was only just holding things together over the whole thing, since he’d gone and fallen in love with his best friend’s boyfriend...
I looked at River, who seemed to be struggling with his conscience, “Everything okay, River?” I asked.
He shook his head, “Not really.” He muttered.
I frowned, “Come on through to the back – I think Jodie’s in there.”
His jaw dropped, “Jodie’s in there?” he asked, “I thought he’d gone home...”
I shook my head, “Well, I guess he might have done now – but he said he needed to talk to you earlier,” I frowned at him. He was definitely sleeping with him. I could just tell he wasn’t being straight with me, “– are you gonna tell me what’s going on?”
He sighed, “You’d better come through with me.”
Oh, God... He was about to confess all of his misdemeanours to me and I was going to have to pretend that I didn’t know. Marvellous... “Give me a minute.” I shouted to Seth to cover the bar and seconds later we were heading towards the staff room.
I shut the door behind me and looked at River, “So – are you gonna tell me just what the fuck is going on?”
River blinked, “What the fuck are you getting all shirty about?” he shot back at me – which, I guess I deserved – it really wasn’t any of my business – apart from the fact that I cared a lot about River and I really didn’t want him to get hurt through his own stupidity. Something I couldn’t really protect him from, but at least I could try...
“You’re coming between your best friend and his lover – it’s not cool, dude.” I said.
He shrugged, “It’s not my fault Jake and his boyfriend have got problems.” He replied sulkily.
I stood up and crossed my arms over my chest, “I think it is – I think it’s all down to you.”
He shook my head, “It takes two to tango, dude.”
Simon, who had just walked in, cleared his throat, “Would you mind telling me what the hell you’re both on about?”
River turned to Simon and nodded, “Yeah, I’ll tell you what’s going on. Jodie and I fucked, okay – are we all happy now that Buzz and Seth were right all along and that I’m a total and utter shit-bag?”
Even as he said the words, I could see him wince and kind of fold in on himself. He didn’t mean a word of it. He’d never thought of Jodie as just a fuck. In that instant, I realised that he’d finally fallen in love and my heart went out to him. What a fuck-up. Why the hell did all of us guys always seem to fall for the wrong ones? I was just as bad with my choices. I usually went for men that were already taken too. Usually married to women...
I could see that River was feeling kind of ashamed of himself – but it didn’t stop him from raging on. I guess he felt that he had to get it all off his chest and that was just fine... I looked at Simon, “You.” I pointed at him and gave him the death glare that had worked on him since he was a baby and amazingly still did even though he was built like a brick shithouse these days and towered above me, “Keep your mouth shut about everything you’ve heard in here – or I’ll tear you a new one, understand?”
He whimpered and nodded before leaving the room pretty quickly, “That wasn’t really necessary,” River said with a sigh, “I know he’s your brother and you can talk to him any way you like and he’ll forgive you no matter what – but he’s also my friend – and therefore I know that he’d never say anything.”
I shrugged, “Tough shit.” I said, “He’ll get over it and I need to protect you from yourself.”
He smiled up at me, “No,” he said, “You really don’t. I’m beyond help.”
“So what’s going on with him?” I asked, “He and Jake were arguing outside – does Jake know?”
He shook his head, “Don’t think so, no.” he sighed, “I’m trying to do the right thing but Jodie’s making it impossible – he got all pissy with me for getting it on with another guy because he’s decided to ‘do the right thing’,” he pulled a face, “and stay with Jake – even though he couldn’t get him off properly if his fucking life depended on it.” He stopped, his chest heaving, as there was a soft knock on the door.
We both turned in surprise. It was Seth, “Hey guys,” he said brightly, completely oblivious to the shouting match he’d just missed, “A whole new bunch of young guys have turned up – the bar’s going nuts – can you come and give me a hand?”
I rolled my eyes, “Well, this is gonna be fucking awesome.” I grumbled. “I fucking hate twinks.”
That made River crack a smile. He knew I didn’t hate twinks at all – I totally had a soft spot for both him and his boyfriend Jodie – and even Alfie who was sort of dating a cop. Every one of them, including the cop, could be described as twinks – and to be fair I don’t think I’d ever dated anyone who didn’t come within that category either. Not one of my previous boyfriends had ever been beefy… Not one.
And now...? I looked sideways at the beautiful guy who I was about to allow into my home and maybe even my heart... Oh, God, I was totally falling for another twink, wasn’t I? Franz...
Short Stories by Heather Mar-Gerrison
Friends
Zoe’s First Date with Fate
Save The Last Dance (Dance #1)
Can We Dance (Dance #2)
Inevitable…
Seven
Something Stupid
Maybe Never…
Kiss The Boy (Boy Next Door #1)
Are We Good...? (Boy Next Door #2)
Equal Measures (Boy Next Door #3)
Some Kind of Paradise (Boy Next Door #4)
Without You... (Boy Next Door #5)
Looking for Trouble (Boy Next Door #6)
Best Boyfriend Ever... (Boy Next Door #7)
Racing Hearts... (Boy Next Door #8)
What If... I Belonged to You? (What If? #1)
Coming Soon
I need a little time... (Boy Next Door #9)
What If... I Was Your Boyfriend? (What If? #2)
What If... I Remember? (What If #3)
Contemporary Romance by
Heather Mar-Gerrison
The One That Got Away
If I Can’t Have You
Like No Other
Summer Break (Summer Break series #1)
Too Easy to Pretend
Makes No Difference
Operation Boyfriend (Operation Boyfriend #1)
All Kinds of Trouble (Operation Boyfriend #2)
The Trouble with Tyler (Operation Boyfriend #3)
What Happens with Vegas (Operation Boyfriend #4)
True… Love (Riverside #1)
Tomas… Enchanted (Riverside #2)
Tatum… Undercover (Riverside #3)
Toby… Captivated (Riverside #4)
Trey… Unbelievable (Riverside #5)
Sam… Distracted (Riverside #6)
Peyton... Protected (Studs & Steel #1)
River... Redeemed (Studs & Steel #2)
Coming Soon
Emilio… Enraptured (Riverside #7)
Riverside… The Weddings (Riverside #8)
Buzz... Bedazzled (Studs & Steel #4)
Simon... Spellbound (Studs & Steel #5)
Stake Out... (Studs & Steel #6)
&nbs
p; Seth... Saved (Studs & Steel #7)
Summer Dreams (Summer Break #2)
Clean Break (Summer Break #3)
When Deanna Met Lincoln (Operation Boyfriend #5)
Misunderstood… Theo’s Fight For Love (Operation Boyfriend #6)
Heather also writes historical romance eBooks
The Duchess of Chittenden (Duchess #1)
Highway to Society (Duchess #2)
The Real Duke of Circhester (Brunswick #1)
Philip Brunswick is getting married (Brunswick #2)
Coming Soon
Matilda’s Escape (Brunswick #3)
An Unlikely Hero
The Lady and the Blacksmith
Rosy’s leap year
Gabriella’s unexpected proposal
The Other Son… (Duchess #3)
Check out my blog at https://www.heathermar-gerrison.blogspot.com for news of my upcoming books.
Follow me on Twitter: @hmgwriting
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heather.margerrison.5
Follow me on Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/heathemg
About the Author
I live in Nottingham, England with my lovely, long suffering and incredibly patient husband and my two beautiful daughters. We also have two cats that we adopted from the RSPCA, Bella and Romeo... and a brand new member of the family – Enzo, our Border Terrier puppy...
When I’m not looking after a wayward puppy – I’m generally writing a book, any spare time I get between these two pursuits, you can either find me curled up with a good book that someone else wrote and a cat or a dog on my knee in place of the laptop, or I’ll be pottering about in the greenhouse, whilst plotting my next storyline in my head, muttering to myself like a crazy woman.... It’s not easy living with all the voices of my characters in my head!
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