Getting Him Back
Page 14
“No doubt.” Brad held the door to the diner open and let Danny step through.
Danny turned his head, bringing them nearly face to face. He shifted closer, almost touching. Brad’s pulse jumped and suddenly his insides jittered.
“I’m Danny, by the way.” Danny smiled. Nearly all of his teeth were perfectly straight, perfectly white, but one incisor was a touch crooked, overlapping the next tooth by the tiniest bit.
Shaking away the useless thought—caught up in some dude’s teeth, for God’s sake!—Brad nodded. “Yeah, I got that.”
Danny waited a moment. “And you are?”
“Brad.”
Danny looked up at him under lowered lids. “Well, Brad, it’s nice to meet you.” He slid past and led the way into the diner.
Brad waited a second before following. Jesus, Greene, pull yourself together. Yeah, the guy was hot, but sweaty palms? Not good. And the timing absolutely sucked. He needed to get a handle on this, drink a cup of coffee or whatever, and move on.
Danny led him to a table along the window facing the parking lot. “This way I can watch for my brother,” Danny said as he slid into the burnt-orange booth, then flipped open a menu.
Brad leaned back and watched Danny scan the menu. He had a straight nose, lean features. His wide mouth looked as though it smiled more often than not, and deep dimples bracketed his lips. His hair—a dark coffee color that couldn’t decide whether it was brown or black—waved around his head in a shaggy look he probably paid good money to achieve.
Danny met his gaze over the top of the menu. “You know what you want?” He glanced down at Brad’s empty hands.
Brad thought about his seventeen bucks and the pay-shower he planned on for the next day. “I’m good.”
“You have to at least let me buy you a cup of coffee or a piece of pie or something. Pay you back for coming to the rescue.”
“I got out of my car. I didn’t slay any dragons.” Brad reached over and started to roll the sugar jar between his hands.
“And I’m not a damsel in distress. But still, you kept things from blowing up. Let me buy you a shake or something. I’m not going to take no for an answer. Mi mamá would skin me alive.” Danny grinned and arched his brows, clearly waiting for Brad’s agreement.
Maybe somebody somewhere could tell this guy no, but Brad wasn’t up to the task. “Fine. I guess I’ll have a shake, if you’re sure. Thanks.”
Danny smiled with satisfaction. Yeah, the guy was totally used to getting what he wanted. Why in the hell did he find the smug expression on Danny’s face so adorable?
The server came and went, taking their orders. After she’d gone, Danny turned sideways in the booth, resting one arm along the back of the faded fabric. “So, what brings you to the Flying J on this fine evening? Usually it’s only truckers this time of night. Are you driving through?”
“No. I got in earlier than I expected, that’s all.” It wasn’t exactly the truth, but Brad didn’t feel up to explaining he’d spent the last two nights sleeping in his vehicle and, unless his interview the next day went very, very well, he might be sleeping there for the foreseeable future. What this moment needed was a distraction. “What’s the deal with Romeo? Did your brother really set you up with him?”
Eyes narrowed, Danny said, “Yeah, and when I get my hands on Ray, he’ll think twice before doing something like that again.”
“Yeah?”
“Oh, yeah. Having to leave a party early to pick me up will be the least of it.”
Brad leaned forward. “What are you going to do?”
“Bleach his jeans.”
“What?”
“He’s damned proud of his jeans. Cost a fortune too. Ray thinks he’s a model or something. He irons his T-shirts and spends a half hour in the bathroom making sure every last hair is positioned perfectly. So, yeah, he’ll completely freak out.”
Brad tried to imagine what his brother would do if he tried something like that. Dread coiled in his belly. “He won’t get violent or anything, will he?”
Danny waved the question aside. “Nah. I’m the baby. He’ll holler, but mi mamá will tell him to quit whining and that it was his own fault.” He winked at Brad. “Sometimes being the baby is a good thing.”
The waitress arrived with Brad’s shake and Danny’s apple pie a la mode, saving Brad from having to say anything.
Brad picked up his spoon and dipped it into the frosty glass. His stomach let out a low rumble. In an effort to save his cash, for the last three days he’d been eating one meal a day from whatever fast food value menu he could find. The sound must have been loud enough to hear, because Danny looked up at him over a forkful of piecrust.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Brad bit out. No way was he going to tell this guy about his limited cash. “You’re the youngest, huh? Do you come from a big family?”
“Huge.” Danny rolled his eyes dramatically and spread his arms wide in a sweeping gesture. “I’ve got two older sisters and an older brother and four nephews and two nieces, and I’ve got more cousins and second cousins than I can count. When we get together with the whole family it’s crazy. There’s, like, forty people when we have a barbecue.”
“Forty?” The only time there were forty people at Brad’s house growing up was when his father had some kind of cocktail party or brunch, and the kids were certainly not invited. Brad tried to imagine so many people running around his parents’ carefully maintained grounds but couldn’t do it. “Damn. That’s a lot of people.”
“Tell me about it. But it’s mostly a good time. My family tends to meddle, poke their noses into my business. They mean well, usually.”
“Is that how you ended up with Romeo tonight?”
Danny made a disgusted noise. “Now there’s a story. You’d think being gay would save me from the family meddling in my love life. But no.”
Brad straightened in his seat and looked around. Nobody looked their way. Nobody to overhear. Still, he kept his voice quiet. “Your whole family knows, not just your brother? And they’re okay with it?”
“I know, right? Huge Hispanic family, a Catholic family, and no one bats an eye? Of course, I never hid it, so they’ve probably known as long as I have. Abuela in Mexico prays for my soul, but here they say I was born this way and if God had a problem with it, He wouldn’t have allowed it.”
“They can’t all be cool about it,” Brad said. “It doesn’t seem possible.”
“Well, there might be a few who grumble and give me fish eyes, but they’ve never said anything to my face. But, yeah, for the most part, I think they’re cool with it.”
“And they, what, regularly set you up on dates?” Brad couldn’t wrap his mind around it.
Danny shook his head and took another bite of pie and ice cream. “This was something different,” he said after he’d swallowed. “Most of the family got together last weekend and Tía Maria was lecturing me about how I was nineteen now and needed to find someone special to settle down with, give my life some purpose.”
“At nineteen?”
“Well, even with the colleges, this is a pretty white town, and the family sticks out a bit. I swear, if you meet a Hispanic person around here, he’s probably a relative of mine. Anyway, some of the older generation work extra hard to battle the stereotypes, you know? I think they watch too much cable. I figure they’re worried people will think gay means I’m a hard-partying sex fiend or something. They want to see me settled into a loving, committed relationship.”
“They don’t try to, you know, subdue you?”
“Nope.” Danny took another bite of his pie. “They want me to be happy. I can’t say I’m all set on the forever-and-always thing, at least not yet, but at least I know they aren’t trying to change me.”
“I can’t even imagine,” Brad said. What would it be like to be accepted like that? To have so much support?
“Yeah, well, it has its moments. Like the one where my brother sa
ys to me and Tía that he knows this gay guy and wouldn’t it be cool if he set us up. Tía thought it was a great idea. Which landed me here with a douche with cheesy lines and roaming hands. My family accepts I’m gay, but apparently thinks all two gay guys need to have in common to form a lasting relationship is a fondness for dick.”
Brad choked, spraying melted ice cream halfway across the table.
Danny jerked back with a laugh, shoving his pie plate out of the line of fire.
“Shit, sorry.” Brad snatched the rolled silverware and fought with the paper strip holding the napkin in place. His eyes darted around the room again. Was that trucker watching them? Had he overheard? Brad mopped up the tabletop while trying to catch his breath. “Jesus,” he croaked, setting the sticky napkin aside.
“You okay?” Danny smirked at him from across the table.
Brad wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Fine. Didn’t expect you to say that.” He couldn’t believe Danny was so comfortable talking openly—publicly—about being gay and dicks.
“You know it’s true. For a het guy, people will set him up with mutual friends or girls with similar interests or ideals. But for a gay guy, it’s like being gay is all that matters.”
“I guess I’ve never thought about it.”
Danny gestured with his fork. “Well, it’s true.”
Brad had never met anyone so comfortable with who and what he was. Had never been able to simply be. This had to be what going on a date should be like, right? Maybe tonight, here, where no one knew him and where no one paid any attention to him, he could find out what it felt like to hang out with a boyfriend, eating dessert and flirting. This was his chance. He’d never see Danny again, so the timing was perfect. Brad gave himself this one night.
One night without hiding.
One night to pretend.
Read the rest of
NOBODY’S HERO by j. leigh bailey,
Available now wherever
Carina Press ebooks are sold.
www.CarinaPress.com
Copyright ©2015 by j. leigh bailey
Looking for more new-adult male/male romance?
Discover the heroes in j. leigh bailey’s Letting Go series!
“I highly recommend this new-adult story to anyone who enjoys seeing the awkwardness of the late-teenage years blossom into young adulthood and the love for another that will not be denied.”
—USA TODAY
NOBODY’S HERO, Letting Go, book one
RECKLESS HOPE, Letting Go, book two
FIGHT TO FORGIVE, Letting Go, book three
Connect with us for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers and much more!
Visit CarinaPress.com
We like you—why not like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/CarinaPress
Follow us on Twitter: Twitter.com/CarinaPress
When the weather outside starts cooling down, inside the dorm things are heating up. Can these college roommates fall in love without going out of bounds?
OUT OF BOUNDS by A.R. Barley
The Boundaries Series, book one
Beaten and heartbroken, Jesse Cole is placed in a new dorm room after his last roommate attacked him. Just wanting to be left alone to heal in peace, he’s shocked when tall, dark and dangerous-looking Nick Moretti walks in.
Nick doesn’t have time to tiptoe around his new roommate—he’s too busy working in order to pay for school. But something about Jesse brings out his protective instincts. As their cautious friendship grows and becomes loaded with sexual tension, he wants to make Jesse comfortable.
Enter the perfect plan: a line of tape down the center of the room. Boundaries established.
But as innocent movie nights become hours-long temptation marathons, and whispered chats from across the room delve into straight-up dirty territory, crossing the line has never been so satisfying.
Connect with us for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers and much more!
Visit CarinaPress.com
We like you—why not like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/CarinaPress
Follow us on Twitter: Twitter.com/CarinaPress
We think you have a good book in you!
Do you write in the below genres? Harlequin’s Carina Press wants to see your manuscript.
• Contemporary Romance
• Romantic Suspense
• Historical Romance
• Paranormal Romance
• Mystery
• Erotic Romance
• LGBT
• Science Fiction & Fantasy
Submit today! All manuscripts receive a thorough evaluation by a Carina Press editor and a decision within 12–16 weeks. What do you have to lose?
To learn more about our submission guidelines, visit us at CarinaPress.com.
Signing up for our FREE eNewsletter is quick and easy!
Get the latest information from Carina Press, PLUS get access to members-only EXCLUSIVE deals and coupons! As an eNewsletter subscriber, you’ll get the inside scoop on everything Carina Press and be the first to know about our newest releases!
DON’T MISS OUT! Sign up now! CarinaPress.com/Newsletter
Connect with us for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers and much more!
Visit CarinaPress.com
We like you—why not like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/CarinaPress
Follow us on Twitter: Twitter.com/CarinaPress
ISBN-13: 9781459294202
Getting Him Back
Copyright © 2016 by K.A. Mitchell
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.
www.CarinaPress.com