How to Catch a Rival

by Ana Ashley

  “He didn’t say at the time, there were too many people around, but I had a note on my car. It said he was going to set Mason’s on fire and he’d make sure you had a taste of the real Chester Falls. He gave me twenty-four hours.”

  “Why me too? What did I do?”

  “I don’t know, the guy looked like he was on some kind of drugs, but I didn’t want to risk him thinking we were together. He was always known for his homophobic comments at school.”

  My heart raced as I told Tom what had happened after the competition as though it was happening again. He put his hands on mine and smiled.

  “I’m okay, Wren. Nothing happened.”

  “They kept me there for so long taking photos and doing interviews. I knew you’d be safe because you were gone, but then…”

  I squeezed his hands hard just to make sure he was there in front of me. Whether or not we still had a chance to be together, Tom was okay and that was all that mattered.

  “What happened to him?”

  “He was held by the police. They caught him driving under the influence and brought him to the station. By then I’d already spoken to the police chief and given him the letter and made a statement.”

  Tom squeezed my hand and I felt like I’d won the playoffs.

  “I also came out to my family.”

  He looked surprised but had a proud smile on his beautiful face. I wanted to kiss him so badly.

  “How did they take it?”

  “I really underestimated my parents. They already knew about the football thing and were only a little disappointed that I didn’t tell them myself.”

  “And how about the rest?”

  “Did you know Troy is gay?” I asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Well, I didn’t, so first of all he made fun of me for coming out to our parents, and then my parents asked me about you.”

  “What?”

  “It seems we weren’t as discreet as we’d thought.”

  I cupped his cheek and he leaned into my touch.

  “What, what exactly did you tell them about me?”

  I sat back and pulled Tom forward so he didn’t have a choice but to straddle me. He sat on my legs and put his hands on my chest.

  “I told them that I’d fallen for you and I needed to find you so I could ask you to forgive me.”

  A large sob came from deep within Tom and he leaned forward, hiding his face on my chest.

  “What’s up, baby?”

  “I have too. I’ve fallen for you so hard, I didn’t know how to handle it when I thought you’d rejected me. I’m so sorry.”

  “Hey,” I said, tilting his head up to face me. “Sounds like we’re both suffering from the same affliction.”

  He smiled his bright Tom smile, his violet eyes shiny and his spark coming back.

  “Oh yeah? What’s that?”

  “Well, if you can’t feel mine, baby, then we have real problems.”

  As soon as his lips touched mine it was like a burst of color, light, and love growing from within and filling my chest with happiness.

  The kiss soon became a heated battle. I groaned when Tom grabbed my hard dick through my jeans and moaned his appreciation. His mouth stole all my breaths until I wondered if I was going to pass out from so much pleasure, and we weren’t even naked.

  “Bedroom,” I pleaded.

  “You know what to do.”

  He was right, and if I had my way Tom would never need to walk to the bedroom ever again.

  I’d also need to make sure there were no frames hanging on any hallway walls, but that was a talk for another day.

  We kissed our way into the bedroom, our mouths hungry and passionate. Fuck, I’d never get tired of his mouth on mine.

  “How did you get in the building, by the way?” Tom asked, kissing his way down my chest. He hovered over my nipples and looked at me.

  There was a look of defiance in his eyes. My cock twitched in my pants in anticipation. He licked a nipple and then blew on it. A ripple of pleasure ran down my spine.

  “Fuck, Tom.”

  “So…are you going to tell me how you got into my building?”

  “I paid your neighbor.”

  He laughed. “Come again?”

  There was another lick and cool breath over my other nipple. I raised my hips to meet Tom’s, but he raised his too. I groaned my frustration.

  “How much?”

  “Hundred bucks. Can we get to the good part already?” I pleaded. I needed Tom’s skin against mine.

  “A hundred dollars?”

  “And twenty for her to let me in, and I’d have paid double that, no scratch that, I’d have tripled that just to end up exactly where I am now.”

  “At my mercy?” he asked, finally lowering his hips and giving me a sliver of relief.

  “Yes.”

  Tom sat back and removed his clothes in record time, only stopping to give me a look that was basically asking what the hell I was doing still dressed.

  With both of us naked and wanting, all bets were off.

  “By the way,” Tom said as he tugged on my balls, causing me to hiss in pleasure. “We have gifts from Charlie and Kris so feel free to go all quarterback on me because we have supplies for a midnight snack and all the condoms in the world.”

  “Fuck yeah.” I cheered.

  It was the longest and shortest night of my life.

  “Come on, baby,” I said, dragging Tom by his hand.

  I’d managed to keep this to myself last night when we’d talked, but I was bursting to tell him.

  “Ugh, Wren, you can’t expect me to be all sparkly when I’ve been up all night.”

  I stopped and turned around. He bumped into me and I wrapped my arms around him. I pushed his sunglasses up on his head.

  “Baaabe.” He pouted.

  “Any regrets?” I said, sucking his bottom lip.

  “None, but it doesn’t mean I want to go all Mary Poppins around the town square.”

  I tucked him in the crook of my arm and walked us toward Bookmarked.

  “I hope you know that by now Charlie told Connor, who told Hannah, who told Ellie, who told Ben, who told Indy that we’re together.”

  “I’m counting on it.”

  Tom started steering us toward Bookmarked, but I pulled him over to the empty unit.

  He tugged on my hand hard enough that I nearly crashed against him.

  “Why did you stop?” I asked.

  “I’ve come to terms with it that I’m not going to be able to rent it out, but it doesn’t mean I want to look at it.”

  “Trust me?” I said and kissed him.

  He nodded.

  I held his hand and pulled him over to the store. I took the key from my pocket, opened the door, and led Tom inside. All the paperwork we needed was on the counter.

  “What’s happening, Wren?”

  “Please don’t be mad with me.”

  “What did you do?”

  Tom’s eyes were shiny and I knew he was trying to contain tears.

  “You’ve earned this place, baby, so it’s yours.”

  He shook his head like he couldn’t believe it.

  “Did you know there was a prize for the window competition?”

  He shook his head again.

  “Me either. There never used to be one. I mean, the prize was a trophy and the right to brag all year. Chester Falls has come a long way. Anyway, you won the window contest so you get the prize. Twenty thousand dollars.”

  Tom stared at me, his mouth open.

  “I know it seems crazy, but the Pride festival is big here. What you’ve seen isn’t even all of it yet. I guess there’s more support and money in it so the prizes are bigger. Mom and Dad were really happy when I said I’d won the bake-off for them. It’s given them a small cushion, but they wanted you to keep the prize for the window. You did it. You came up with the concept and you executed it.”

  “Is this real? I mean, it’s my dream come true, but i
s it real?”

  “You bet your cute little ass, that is now mine, that it is true.”

  25

  Tom

  Three months later

  I wasn’t sure which one was the happiest day of my life. The day I first kissed Wren, the day he turned up at my door to make up, or when he told me he’d taken out a lease on my unit using the prize money from the window competition, leaving me with the rest for the furnishings and stock.

  They were all great days, but today I was welcoming my friends and family for a pre-opening celebration in my dream store. I was finally the owner of my business.

  My mom had come from Colorado last week and was loving Chester Falls so much I wouldn’t be surprised if she left the mountains for the milder weather of Connecticut.

  Charlie and Kris had flown in yesterday and this morning they were house hunting before attending the grand pre-opening event. When they’d said they had news I’d expected them to tell me they were engaged, but it was much better than that because they were engaged with the cherry on top that they were looking for a home in Chester Falls so they didn’t have to stay in Gina’s playroom. Kris’s words.

  “Tom, honey?”

  “Come in, Abi.”

  “Oh wow, sweetheart, it looks fabulous. I’m going to need your help picking an outfit. Jonas wants to take me to the theater in New Haven. It’s our first date in years.”

  “Oh my god! Abi, I already have the perfect dress and accessories. Come by this week and I’ll sort you out.”

  I hugged her tight. Abi and Jonas were brilliant to me. They’d let me carry on working in the store until I’d had too much work with the setup of Fabulize and needed to quit.

  “Do you need me to convince Jonas to come along too?” I asked.

  She winked and gave me a kiss.

  “I’ll see you later, honey.”

  One by one, my friends came in to see the store before the official opening. I couldn’t wait to open tomorrow and welcome my first customers. Thanks to all the recommendations from the customers I’d met at Mason’s, I already had a lot of bookings for personal styling.

  I knew my net-a-porter range would also sell easily off the rack, especially ladieswear.

  Behind the scenes I’d started designing my own collection inspired by none other than my muse, whose photo hung proudly on the wall just above the red chaise longue I’d painstakingly restored.

  The clock was annoyingly slow when I checked it for the millionth time since this morning. I’d worked so hard in the last few weeks I’d barely spent any time with Wren, and then he’d had to go back to San Diego to complete the sale of his apartment.

  We’d talked about moving in together when he came back, and I couldn’t wait to have him in my bed every night. Well, he already was, since we’d either sleep at my place or his parents’ apartment, but it was exhausting having to always plan where to have our food and which laundry needed doing.

  Last week before he’d gone to San Diego I’d finally asked him if he’d move in now, and then we could look for something more permanent at some point. Okay, I hadn’t asked, I’d demanded. But hey, once a diva, always a diva.

  I’d worried in the beginning that Wren might get bored of living back in a small town, or that he’d get tired of his new job as coach at his old high school, but I’d been wrong. He was thriving, and in the short time he’d already implemented a mentoring program for students to support one another.

  I’d met Coach and Mrs. Johnson shortly after the coach retired and had loved hearing all the stories about my gorgeous boyfriend when he was a kid. I’d also had all the warnings from Mrs. Johnson about being a football widow and that knowing how to bake would go a long way.

  “Eep!” I screeched when a pair of strong arms enveloped me from behind.

  I was turned around, and before I had any warning, Wren’s lips consumed me. Fuck, I’d missed him.

  “You’re never…”—I sucked on his lower lip—“going away…”—groped his ass—“ever…”

  A voice cleared and I froze, looking into Wren’s eyes, and whispered, “We’re not alone.”

  “No,” he whispered back, “but fuck if that isn’t the best reception a guy could want.”

  He kissed me again, this time with a lot less heat, giving my cock a chance to stand down till later.

  “Hi, I’m Aiden.”

  “Oh my god, you’re Wren’s best friend.” I pushed Wren off me and went to give Aiden a big hug.

  “Well, I think I’ve been bumped to second best friend now.” He winked.

  “Nope, we’re naked best friends, that’s a different category. You still get first place in the clothed best friend one. Speaking of which, is that what I think it is?”

  I couldn’t help admire his Valentino jacket. He looked at Wren and mouthed, “I approve.”

  “Oh, come have a drink. We have all kinds of cocktails. All non-alcoholic, but you’ll never notice the difference.”

  Charlie and Kris arrived shortly after with beaming smiles.

  “Did you find a house?”

  Charlie leaned into Kris. “Oh my god, Tinker Bell, it’s so beautiful like you wouldn’t believe it.”

  I gave them both a hug and then Charlie looked at Kris before giving me a large package.

  “What’s this?” I asked.

  “Just something from Lydovia’s biggest artist,” Kris said. Love and pride radiating from him as he looked at Charlie.

  I took the parcel to the checkout desk and opened it carefully. Wrapped in layers of tissue paper was a hand-drawn image of Coco Chanel.

  Tears filled my eyes and I had to step away from the drawing so I wouldn’t damage it.

  “It’s beautiful, Charlie,” I managed to say after putting my arms around him again and squeezing him tight.

  He was a talented artist, and I was so proud that after meeting Kris he’d been able to make his own dream of becoming an artist come true.

  “By the way, who’s the hot blond by the door?” I whispered to them.

  Kris whispered back, “That’s James, our security, and he can hear you. He’s also a friend so you don’t need to worry.”

  “Oops.” I shrugged.

  Wren had gone to help Indy close up Spilled Beans—as in, he’d gone to stand by the door to make sure no one came in for personal advice while he was trying to clean up and close. The amount of times Indy had been late to a dinner or meet up was ridiculous.

  My heart skipped a beat as I saw them cross the square toward my store, and then it skipped a beat again when I remembered I had a store.

  “Hey, has anyone heard from Connor? He said he’d come over for a coffee before the party, but he hasn’t turned up.”

  Everyone shook their heads and some of us checked our cellphones.

  “No messages either. I’m still expecting him to make it.”

  Charlie’s cellphone rang and we all looked at him.

  “Hey, Hannah, we’re at Fabulize…okay.” He hung up and seconds later Hannah, Ellie, Ben, and Tristan walked in.

  Hannah was the one that spoke first. “I have a friend at the police station. They got a call for a disturbance at an address. He recognized the address because he once dropped me off there. It looks like someone’s robbed Connor’s place.”

  The quiet blond guy in the corner, James, approached us and spoke to Hannah very matter-of-factly. “Was he at home at the time of the robbery?”

  “No, but he’s not answering his calls either,” Hannah said.

  James put his hand on Kris’s arm and they exchanged a look. Kris nodded and James left the store and got in the car that was parked outside.

  No one spoke much for a while, and I knew everyone was worried about Connor. I offered my sugary drinks and snacks to keep their hands and heads occupied.

  Wren took my hand and nudged me toward the office at the back.

  “I know this is meant to be a happy day and now it kinda isn’t, but don’t forget the amazing work y
ou’ve done with the store and how proud I am of you, okay?”

  I smiled and nodded.

  “God, I so want to pull you into one of those fitting rooms and have my way with you.” He kissed my lips gently.

  “Later,” I promised.

  Kris’s cellphone rang just as we came back out.

  “James.” We were all on standby for whatever news he had until he relaxed. “Okay. Yeah, stay with him. We’ll figure it out.”

  He hung up the phone with a relieved smile gracing his lips. “Connor is fine. Looks like he was out shopping when the house was broken into. James is staying with him until they know more.”

  At the end of the evening I’d spoken to so many people I didn’t know how I hadn’t lost my voice. The pre-opening get together was a success and the people of Chester Falls couldn’t wait to have a bespoke appointment at Fabulize to discuss all their stylistic needs.

  Wren didn’t leave me a single moment, always holding my hand, touching my back, or making sure I had a drink or some food.

  Yeah, today was hands down the happiest day of my life, and I couldn’t wait for the next happiest day of my life, because with Wren at my side there would be as many as the rainbows in the sky after a rainy day.

  Thank you for reading Tom and Wren’s story!

  Did you know Tom almost didn’t get his story? When I wrote how to Catch a Prince, Tom was just Charlie’s roommate but he clearly made an impression on my editor who left a note on the edits asking for Tom’s story. And Tom being Tom, he wasn’t happy enough to get his story, he had to bump himself all the way up to book two. How cheeky!

  I hope you enjoyed reading the sweet rivalry of Tom and Wren’s relationship. Want to see how Wren and Tom celebrate their six months anniversary in one of Fabulize’s changing rooms? Sign up for Ana’s Newsletter for a link to a free short.

  www.anawritesmm.com

  The next Chester Falls book, How to Catch a Bodyguard will be coming out on March 10th, 2020.

  To pre-order right now, click here!

  How to Catch a Bodyguard

  If you enjoyed reading How to Catch a Rival, please take a moment to write a review on Amazon, Goodreads and Bookbub. If you leave a review Tom and Wren will bake you a batch of their special rainbow cupcakes, with extra frosting. For real!