Helix
Page 21
Dylan curled around James, tucking his chin on James’s shoulder and carefully anchoring James against his chest with an arm around his waist.
“I love you,” Dylan said and kissed the back of James’s neck.
Too tired to respond, James fell asleep.
WHEN HE woke, it was with the knowledge that he’d slept for a long time. Dylan wasn’t in bed with him anymore, and James didn’t really blame him. A quick afternoon nap wasn’t something Dylan usually indulged in, considering how difficult he found sleeping at night most of the time.
James stretched, feeling soft and warm and perfectly content. The throbbing behind his eyes that had been a constant feature of his final semester was starting to lessen, and he thought one good visit to a chiropractor could probably fix most of the rest of his troubles.
“Oh good. You’re awake.”
“Almost,” James agreed. “Come and cuddle me.”
Dylan laughed, not bothering to hide it. “Only for a minute. I got sandwiches delivered.”
James’s stomach gave a convincing rumble in response.
“Okay. Quick cuddle, then food.”
“Or I could bring lunch in here, and I could cuddle you while you eat?” Dylan paused, and shook his head at himself. “I can’t believe I just used the word cuddle.”
“You are the snuggliest, cuddliest, squidgiest person I know,” James said with great sincerity.
“I hate you,” Dylan said unconvincingly as he turned to go back to the kitchen.
“I love you,” James called after him.
They figured out how to do both; Dylan leaning back against the headboard, with James between his legs, leaning into Dylan’s chest as he worked his way through an enormous deli sandwich. He didn’t use the word perfection very often, but this wasn’t far off.
“How was the exam?” Dylan asked.
“Good,” James said around a mouthful of bread and meat and cheese. Dylan had ordered him a Reuben. His favorite. He swallowed and washed it down with Coke. “I’m so glad it’s over, though. My brain is about to start leaking out of my ears.”
“You get to start applying for jobs, now,” Dylan teased.
James huffed a laugh. “I know. Hopefully I can find some poor, unsuspecting grade school that would love a freshly qualified male teacher.”
“I’m sure you will.”
They’d talked before, at length, about what they were going to do when James graduated. He wasn’t in any particular rush to move back to Forest Heights. Neither was he fixed on staying in San Diego. Dylan was in a good position to move wherever James got a job, and that had been their plan for a while now. James would finish his education, find a job, and Dylan would either find a garage near whatever school James wound up working at or he’d open his own.
That was still very much Dylan’s long-term plan, to open a garage that he could build and grow into as much of a local institution as Joe’s was in Forest Heights. He was a patient man, unlike James.
“You put your life on hold for me,” James said softly, tipping his head back onto Dylan’s shoulder.
“I don’t see it like that.”
“But you did.”
“No,” Dylan said. “I’ve got experience, I’m good at my job, and I have enough saved to put a deposit down on a house for us to live in together. That’s not passively letting my life pass me by, James. I’ve been laying the foundation for what comes next.”
“We’re going to live together,” James said. He wriggled out from between Dylan’s legs so he could turn and face him.
“We are.”
“You’re probably going to kill me within a week.”
“If you don’t learn how to put your clothes away, I definitely am.”
James laughed. “I’m house trained, I promise.”
“Good,” Dylan said and poked him in the knee. “It’s going to be amazing.”
James grinned and leaned forward for a kiss. “I think so too.”
More from Anna Martin
Joe Fitzgerald hates New Orleans, but he’s stuck there until he convinces one stubborn local family to sell Lumière, the crumbling French Quarter restaurant they’ve owned for generations. The place is a wreck, and it’s hemorrhaging money. Joe figures he’s their best chance for survival.
Remy Babineaux despises Pineapple Joe’s and everything the chain stands for. He refuses to let Lumière become some tacky corporate tourist trap. Theme drinks and plastic beads in his restaurant? Yeah, right. Over his dead, rotting corpse. The last thing Remy wants is a meeting with the restaurant chain’s representative, but his father agreed to at least listen to the proposal. There’s nothing Remy can do about it.
Remy figures an anonymous hookup is exactly what he needs to decompress. When he ends up across the table from his fling the next morning, real sparks fly. Joe refuses to give up his prime location; Remy refuses to give up his legacy. It’s war, and they’re both determined to win at any cost. Neither of them counted on falling in love.
When you realize you want to marry your best friend at age six, life should follow a pretty predictable path, right? Maybe not.
As a kid, Evan King thought Scott Sparrow was the most amazing person he’d ever met. At seventeen, his crush runs a little deeper, and nothing seems simple anymore. Scott is more interested in football and girls than playing superheroes, and Evan’s attention is focused on getting into art school. A late-night drunken kiss is something to be forgotten, not obsessed over for the next ten years.
When life suddenly brings them back together, it doesn’t take much for the flame Evan carried for Scott nearly all his life to come roaring back, and Evan discovers that life sometimes has a strange way of coming full circle.
This is not your average love story.
Ben Easton is not your average romantic hero. He’s a tattooed, badass, wannabe rock star, working in a perfectly horrible dive bar in Camden Town. His life is good, and he’s totally unprepared for how one man will turn it upside down.
Stan isn’t your average heroine. As a gender-fluid man, he proudly wears his blond hair long, his heels sky-high, and his makeup perfectly executed. A fashion industry prodigy, Stan is in London after stints working in Italy and New York City, and he quickly falls for Ben’s devil-may-care attitude and the warm, soft heart Ben hides behind it.
Beneath the perfect, elegant exterior, Stan has plenty of scars from teenage battles with anorexia. And it only takes the slightest slip for his demons to rush back in while Ben is away touring with his band. With the band on the brink of a breakthrough, Ben is forced to find a way to balance the opportunity of a lifetime with caring for his beautiful boyfriend.
After growing up in a rough part of town, George Maguire worked his way out of Manchester and to a career as a design engineer. Alexander van Amsberg, an architecture student at the University of Edinburgh, wasn’t the sort of guy he normally had explosive, hotel-room one-night-stands with. Alex was charming, classy, and, as George later learns, Prince of the Netherlands.
Fate brings them together again, and Alex makes sure to get his sexy stranger’s phone number this time. Despite all the reasons why they shouldn’t work, something clicks, and Alex thinks that this time, he might have found the right guy. But Alex’s aristocratic ex stirs up trouble in the press for George and his humble family, and Alex realizes he has to get real about having a boyfriend from the wrong side of town.
While George acknowledges his modest upbringing, he doesn’t let anyone insult his family. Life’s no fairy tale, and regardless of his royal title, Alex might destroy his one chance for happily ever after.
Cooper Reed has a fairly relaxed life for someone who lives in LA. He’s no celebrity—just the guy who makes sundaes at the Dreamy Creamery, and that’s the way he likes it. The highlight of every week is the beautiful guy who turns up and orders a sundae with rainbow sprinkles. Cooper still isn’t sure if that’s a code, because he has a huge crush and the hot guy is terrible at flirting.
Drew Tanner, it turns out, is an original California dreamer. He’s as wholesome as apple pie and twice as sweet, a real-life Disney Prince at Disneyland. But while Drew’s head is in the clouds, Cooper’s feet are firmly on the ground, and their different outlooks might be more than their new relationship can take.
Readers love Anna Martin
Rainbow Sprinkles
“Rainbow Sprinkles is a cute little micro-sized keeper of a story that’s guaranteed to leave you smiling.”
—All About Romance
“Anna Martin has created two lovable characters who fumble their way into your heart and leave behind a sweet memory of old fashioned romance.”
—The Novel Approach
The Impossible Boy
“…a beautiful story about the importance of acceptance and the power of love. Consider this one strongly recommended.”
—Joyfully Jay
“Bottom line, I highly recommend this book. It’s my favorite Anna Martin to date, and Stan and Ben are two of my all-time favorite characters.”
—Gay Book Reviews
Five Times My Best Friend Kissed Me
“The chemistry between Scott and Evan is very well written and I just had a great time reading this book in one sitting. I hope you enjoy this fun, lovable story.”
—Three Books Over the Rainbow
“I highly recommend this to all lovers of MM romance, and if you love slow burn, there’s very few that are more slow burn than this one, but are so worth the wait when the sparks ignite!”
—Hearts on Fire Reviews
ANNA MARTIN is from a picturesque seaside village in the southwest of England and now lives in the Bristol, a city that embraces her love for the arts. After spending most of her childhood making up stories, she studied English literature at university before attempting to turn her hand as a professional writer.
Apart from being physically dependent on her laptop, Anna is enthusiastic about writing and producing local grassroots theater (especially at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where she can be found every summer), going to visit friends in other countries, and reading anything that’s put under her nose.
Anna claims her entire career is due to the love, support, prereading, and creative ass-kicking provided by her best friend Jennifer. Jennifer refuses to accept responsibility for anything Anna has written.
Website: annamartin-fiction.com
Twitter: @missannamartin
Facebook: www.facebook.com/annamartinfiction
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/5251288.Anna_Martin
By Anna Martin
Cricket
Five Times My Best Friend Kissed Me
Helix
The Impossible Boy
Jurassic Heart
Kid Gloves
Les faits accomplis
Lone Wolf
My Prince
Rainbow Sprinkles
Signs
With Tia Fielding: Solitude
Summer Son
Tattoos & Teacups
ANOTHER WAY…
Another Way
Of Being Yours
To Say I Love You
With M.J. O’Shea
JUST DESSERTS
Macarons at Midnight
Soufflés at Sunrise
Devil’s Food at Dusk
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.
Helix
© 2019 Anna Martin.
Cover Art
© 2019 Garrett Leigh.
http://blackjazzpress.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.
Digital ISBN: 978-1-64080-890-4
Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-1-64080-891-1
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018906774
Digital published February 2019
v. 1.0
Printed in the United States of America