by E. Davies
I tried to hold back my smile and surprise him, but something must have given me away.
Kev squealed and dove across the console for a hug just as a cab behind me started to beep. “That’s amazing!” he congratulated me, kissing me. More honking and he flipped off the guy in the rearview mirror before buckling up.
“You’re becoming local!” I laughed. “Used to be you’d roll down the window and apologize.”
“You say that like we’ve been dating for ten years,” Kev scoffed.
I smiled fondly. “Feels like it sometimes.”
“Hey. Is that a good thing?” Kev eyed me as I pulled away from the curb.
I winked. “Why don’t we find out later with celebration sex?”
“Yes, please. When do you start?”
“Sometime after I peel your underwear off, which is not long after I get you through the front door. Maybe up against the closet—”
“The job!” Kev was laughing, and he conspicuously adjusted himself. “Don’t turn me on before the meeting. That’s not fair.”
“Oh.” I grinned. “Two weeks. It’s totally fair, by the way. You knew what you were doing this morning.”
Kev, the little minx, had made sure to wrap himself up just right in sheets that barely covered his morning wood when I came in for a goodbye kiss before work.
“Mmm.” Kev pretended not to know what I meant.
I kept flirting and teasing to distract him, all the way until we arrived at the hotline’s cramped, industrial building.
Kev’s nerves kicked in then. “Are you—this is the place? Are you coming with me to the lobby, at least? Where is it?”
“I’ll come with you if you want,” I promised, shutting off the car and squeezing his hand. Once he was calm enough, I brought him to the building and kept my hand in his as I buzzed to get in.
It was strange being greeted and welcomed in with my boyfriend by my side, and not here for my own sake.
“How’s things going?” Neil asked with a warm smile. “With the job move?”
“Just accepted a new position today.”
He clapped my shoulder. “Great news! And Angus has been wonderful, by the way. Not the same as you, but he’s doing his best,” he winked. “You must be Kev?”
“I am.” Kev shook hands, too. “Thanks for seeing me.”
“No problem at all.”
I wasn’t sure how nervous Kev felt, so I offered, “I’ll wait out here, unless—”
Kev smiled at me and nodded. “Okay. See you in a bit.”
His confidence had always seemed high, but it felt more genuine now. Over the last few weeks, he’d seemed to settle into his skin better. Knowing that he had a future ahead of him had stopped him from feeling quite so insecure, and he didn’t rush to conclusions as much.
In return, I’d been working on showing him how I really felt—which was hard when it came to everything except how I felt about him.
Darren had been more than eager to move in with Adam and ditch the living situation with the ex, but he needed some time to get his things together and start moving them over, so Kev had started moving out, too.
The most important things were already at my place: that growing collection. Just two cups and saucers for now, but that was all the two of us needed.
Time passed in a flash as I daydreamed about our last few weeks together, and the upcoming moving days. By the time Kev bounced out of the office again, I’d planned the next few days off and how we’d get the rest of his stuff to my place.
“Thank you so much for your time,” Kev told Neil, shaking hands enthusiastically.
I’d never seen him all smiles like this, and I gave Neil a huge, grateful smile of my own as we made small talk on the way out.
We’d barely gotten to the car before Kev turned to me. “He thinks I’d be a good fit, personality-wise. I talked a bit about my past, and he didn’t—you know, get all judgmental. He said I’d be perfect to understand where people are coming from. He gave me advice on the kinds of courses I should take, and in the meantime, I can volunteer…”
I listened to his rambling with a smile, nodding at appropriate moments, but I barely had a chance to get a word in edgewise. Volunteering sounded great, though. I’d made sure my new job had consistent enough hours that I could commit to a shift at the hotline and get to know a little bit of other people’s realities. Kev’s especially, but there were lots of others who needed a community or a friendly listening ear. Even if I wasn’t that ear directly, I could support their work. In the background, just how I liked it.
“So, I take it you’d like to head to the college now?”
Kev gasped. “Could I?” He looked at me, and then the clock. “Do you have to get back to work?”
“Nah. They’ve given me the afternoon off for good behavior.”
“In that case, I’d like to visit the college, and then go home and behave very badly to reward you for all that hard work you must have done,” Kev winked.
It was my turn to shift, adjusting myself under the steering wheel. “Count me in.”
Whatever happened with Kev’s career, I hoped he’d keep talking to me about it. He’d started opening up more about his past in the last few weeks, and while I expected it would be years before I heard it all—if ever—this was progress.
I, too, had been opening up. Whenever I talked about Hugh, he seemed to listen without envy or trying to shut me down. He even asked smart questions sometimes, about what Hugh had been like.
God, some small part of me wished they could have met, though they couldn’t be more different in some ways. But then, I reminded myself again, I never would have gotten to be with Kev.
There was no good or bad about it—it was just life, and it was crazy and unpredictable and utterly intoxicating.
I was done with missing out on living by being some boring office drone. And just like Kev refused to subject himself to abuse in order to work, neither would I. It might make my job a little trickier, but my new bosses had completely understood—sympathized, even—when I talked about why I was leaving my old firm.
The future looked rosier than it ever had, and Kev? Well, he held the keys to it all.
If I could be his rudder and help steer him on the course that made him happiest—one which would no doubt change the world in one way or another, or many at once—then that was my pleasure.
So long as I got to be by his side, anything was possible.
Epilogue
Kev - three months later
“Ugh, Darren doesn’t even want to pay for press-and-fold!”
I bit back a grin as Adam lamented to me over the phone about his roommate. The honeymoon phase had passed, and now Adam was undoubtedly making Darren’s life harder in some ways while being a sweet asshole in others.
“Uh huh. And how does that make you feel?”
Adam groaned. “Dude, you haven’t even started class yet! Don’t think I don’t see what you’re doing.”
“Yeah, but I’ve read the first five chapters.”
“Oh, God. I should’ve known you’d be an eager beaver,” Adam said with a sigh. “Now you’re gonna be testing all your skills on me.”
“Yep! Aren’t you glad I didn’t end up in massage, then?” I burst out laughing at Adam’s noise of horror. “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t give you a happy ending.”
“Good. I don’t need one from a guy. Especially you.” Adam was still resolutely pretending to be straight, then. Something about him had tripped my gaydar—maybe bidar—for a while. I’d teased him about giving guys a try a hundred times and he’d always pretended to miss the hint.
He was a hell of a character, but I counted myself lucky to have him as a friend. He’d also come with me to help me buy textbooks, something I’d never had to figure out in my life, and taught me how to navigate the new college campus last week.
“Uh huh,” I hummed.
“How about you?” Adam finally asked. “How do you feel?”
/>
“Pretty damn nice.” I giggled to myself, but that was a joke for just Charlie and I. “I mean, he’s great. Two months in and we haven’t killed each other. We haven’t even broken up.”
“I’ll start saving the date now.”
“Don’t even,” I laughed, trying to hide the flutter in my chest. It felt nice to have something like an engagement to daydream about, but we’d taken so many steps so fast that we’d agreed to take it all nice and slow for a little while. We both had a lot of life changes recently and coming up, after all.
“Charlie’s just getting started on a new project. He’s not managing or leading things anymore, which sounds like a demotion, but he’s way less stressed. And he doesn’t have to travel. He seems happier.”
Adam hummed. “That’s the main thing. And you?” he grumbled, as if he were almost unwilling to even ask.
I smiled to myself as I wandered to the kitchen and crouched by the oven, making sure the lasagna was keeping warm without burning.
Compared to the years I’d spent scrounging for a solid meal, twenty bucks for a bed, or a guy who’d make me believe in the fantasy I constructed for him?
“Happier than I can believe,” I murmured. “I’m so fucking glad we came here.”
Adam grunted, but he didn’t disagree. “At least you’re getting laid. You’re a lot more cheerful, even if you psychoanalyze me now.”
“Oh, fuck off,” I laughed. “Call me and tell me how the new job goes, huh?”
I wasn’t the only one who’d gotten a new job. Adam had been promoted to a full-time employee in the landscaping company he’d started working for, and that meant he could ditch all his cobbled-together jobs. I knew the stress relief must be immense for him. Best of all, he could quit that fucking grocery store job and its lousy customers.
“Yeah, yeah,” Adam grumbled. “It’s no big deal.”
“You know it is. We’re doing celebration pizza and beer at your place next week, all right?”
“You wanna come back to this dingy little place?”
“Anywhere you are,” I told him.
Adam was quiet for a moment—several moments. Finally, he answered me, just when I was thinking he hadn’t heard. “Thanks, Kev. For… you know.”
I grinned. That was as much as I was getting from him for the whole year, probably. “Of course. Thank you.”
Who would’ve thought a couple small-town kids, butting heads every other day, could wind up here in Brooklyn, happy—or at least on the way, in Adam’s case—and right at home?
Life had turned out better than I’d ever expected, or even hoped or dreamed for. And it was all thanks to one man seeing straight through me, and not giving up until I saw the potential in me, too.
With Charlie’s love, and a little help from friends, I could get by.
Afterword
Dear reader,
Thank you for reading Electric Sunshine, the first book in the Brooklyn Boys series!
I want to take the chance to thank a few people who brought this book to life. Many huge thank you hugs go to Amelia for that day in Central Park and many more since, Helen for many feels, John and Leslie for making this book so much better than it was, Meg and Kitti for expertly sifting out the errors, Aubrey for all of her love and cheerleading, Lucy for inspiring my leap into a new pool… and gosh, so many more. It’s about time I got around to thanking my whole crew—without whom not just this book, but the last few dozen I’ve written, wouldn’t have happened. You know who you are and can redeem your hugs anytime (besides when I’m in the shower, Zach excepted).
And, of course… my thanks always to the boy for being my sunshine.
The next Brooklyn Boys novel will be Live Wire. Darren’s bad luck takes a turn for the better, but Adam quickly finds out that no good deed goes unpunished. It will be live October 16th, 2018!
In the meantime, if you’d like to meet Josh and Evan, check out Tremble (also where Adam and Kev first met)—and, of course, the rest of the Significant Brothers series! And to find out what happened between Shay and Jared at a speed-dating session back in January, check out the short story “Wind Tunnel” (you can grab it for free by subscribing to my newsletter).
Make sure you follow me on Amazon to hear about Brooklyn Boys and my other new releases, or subscribe to my newsletter to hear about new releases and sales, get sneak peeks at upcoming books, and hear about audiobook releases, event appearances, and other exciting news as it happens!
I also have a reader group on Facebook here if you want to tell me what you loved about this book, see cute bee and flower photos, and keep on top of my upcoming releases with a whole bunch of fun, lovely readers: https://www.facebook.com/groups/edavies
Last but not least: always be you!
~Ed
About the Author
Gay romance author E. Davies grew up moving constantly, which taught him what people have in common, the ways relationships are formed, and the dangers of “miscellaneous” boxes. As a young gay author whose role models were characters punished for their sexuality, Ed prefers his stories lightly dramatic, full of optimism and hope.
Now out and proud, Ed writes full-time, goes on long nature walks, tries to fill his passport, drinks piña coladas on the beach, flees from cute guys, coos over fuzzy animals (especially bees), and is liable to tilt his head and click his tongue if you don't use your turn signal.
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Also by E. Davies
Brooklyn Boys series:
Electric Sunshine
Live Wire (October 16th, 2018)
Significant Brothers series:
Splinter
Grasp
Slick
Trace
Clutch
Tremble
Riley Brothers series:
Buzz
Clang
Swish
Crunch
Slam
Grind
F-Word series:
Flaunt
Freak
Faux
Forever
After series:
Afterburn
Afterglow
Aftermath
Hidden Creek books:
Shelter
Adore
And, of course, stay tuned for more books in the Brooklyn Boys series!
