by Alexa Land
Second Act
His Chance Series Book One
Alexa Land
U.S. Copyright 2020 by Alexa Land.
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission in whole or in part of this publication is permitted without express written consent from the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either used fictitiously or are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, business establishments or locales is purely coincidental.
This gay romance contains adult language and sexually explicit material.
It is intended for ADULTS ONLY.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Acknowledgments
Heartfelt thanks to Anita, Kim, Melisha, and Jera
I truly appreciate your help and support
Thank you Kristin for the encouragement
Thank you Sara and Farrah for a bit of local color
I recently asked members of my readers’ group for some romantic ideas for this couple, and I got a lot of fantastic suggestions. Thank you to everyone who chimed in, and special thanks to Erin, Alyson, Anka, Katie, Jamilla, Amanda, and Terri for the extra inspiration.
Cover Design by Angsty G
www.angstyg.com
Chapter 1
“Ten!”
Shit, I was missing it.
“Nine!”
I shut the door to my room and ran down the hall while the countdown continued. “Eight! Seven! Six!”
As I stepped into the courtyard of the resort I called home, the crowd shouted, “Five! Four!”
There was only one person I hoped to find as I waded into the throng, even though this was definitely a bad idea. The fact that it was New Year’s Eve didn’t actually justify kissing one of my best friends.
And yet here I was, with a racing heart and sweaty palms, searching for Lorenzo while all around me people yelled, “Three! Two! One! Happy New Year!”
Confetti rained down as Auld Lang Syne began to play, and I brushed the colored bits of paper from my dark hair. I’d missed my opportunity. No wonder, since I’d spent over an hour pacing in my room and trying to talk myself out of this.
When someone touched my shoulder, I spun around and found myself face-to-face with Lorenzo. His brown eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled at me and said, “Happy New Year, Will.”
Before I could stop myself, I stretched up to kiss him. He was six-three to my five-foot-ten, so it wasn’t easy, but I managed to press my lips to his. He deepened the kiss before stepping back with an expression that was both confused and startled. An awkward pause stretched between us. Finally, I blurted, “Happy New Year, Lorie,” and fled into the crowd.
A few seconds later, I bumped into my friend Vee, who exclaimed, “Hey, Will! I’m glad to see you changed your mind about blowing off the party. Happy New Year!”
“To you, too.”
He tilted his head and asked, “You okay? You seem flustered.”
“I just did something I really shouldn’t have.”
“Do tell.”
“I decided to use New Year’s as an excuse to kiss Lorenzo. It immediately turned awkward, and now I’m mortified.”
“He’s totally watching you,” Vee told me, as he glanced over my shoulder. “But don’t worry, I got you, Boo.” My friend grabbed the lapels of my gray suit and planted a big, wet kiss on my lips. Then he grinned at me and said, “Now he’ll just think you’re going around kissing everyone.”
“Um…thanks?”
We were joined by a cute guy I’d never seen before. Vee pushed us together and said, “Craig Yi, this is Will Kandinsky. Will just embarrassed the shit out of himself by kissing a friend he’s been crushing on forever, so we need you to make out with him for a sec. The guy he likes is watching us, and we want him to think Will’s gone off on a drunken New Year’s kissing spree.”
The guy muttered, “Okay,” before tipping me back and planting a kiss on my lips. When he returned me to an upright position, I happened to catch a glimpse of Lorie across the courtyard. He looked more confused than ever.
Vee produced an empty glass out of nowhere and announced, “We need more champagne! Follow me, boys.” I tried to tell him I just wanted to go back to my room, but he threw his arm around my shoulders and said, “You can hide later. For now, just have one drink with me.”
After a quick stop at the outdoor bar, we selected a patio table in a relatively quiet corner, and I asked Craig, “How do you two know each other?”
“We met this afternoon, and Vee invited me to the party. I’d been spending the day here on Catalina Island with my sister and her family. They took the last ferry back to L.A., and I stayed behind.” He took a sip of champagne before asking me, “Do you work here at the resort?”
“Kind of.”
Craig frowned at that. “How do you kind of work someplace?”
“It’s like this,” Vee explained. “Will and I are both friends with this guy named Beck. He’s one of the co-owners of Seahorse Ranch, along with his Uncle Ren. He’s been letting us live here for free while we’re in limbo, and even though we’re not technically staff, we lend a hand as needed. For example, I took the lead on this year’s holiday decorations.” He gestured at the pair of Spanish-style buildings that formed an ‘L’ around the courtyard, which were festooned with a mind-boggling number of lights. For no particular reason, he’d gone with a pink and purple color scheme.
Vee’s new friend asked, “How exactly are you in limbo?”
“In my case there are some things I need to figure out, like what I want to be when I grow up, even though I’m twenty-eight. My parents emigrated from India before I was born, and they keep acting like such a stereotype by telling me, ‘Be a doctor, Vihaan, like your brother’. Oh, okay. Let me get right on that.” Vee sighed and reached up to tidy his dark hair. He’d used some kind of rinse on it, so it had a purple sheen. It made me wonder if the holiday lights had been selected to match. “As for Will,” he continued, “he’s waiting for his big break in Hollywood.”
“I was doing that. Past tense,” I said.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s January first, and I promised myself if I didn’t land a job by the end of the year, I’d let go of this crazy idea of becoming an actor. Well, here we are.”
My friend’s dark eyes went wide. “You can’t quit acting. It’s your dream!”
“I tried to make a go of it, Vee. I really did. Once I decided it was now or never, I asked my agent to send me out for almost everything, from roles that would have been a stretch to ones I should have landed easily. I went to dozens of auditions over this past year, but that got me nowhere.”
Craig frowned and said, “So, you’re just giving up?”
“I’m finally admitting defeat, after trying to launch my acting career for a decade. I had some success early on, but the last few years have been dismal,” I said, as I leaned back in my chair. “It’s time to accept the fact that this just isn’t going to happen for me.”
“I don’t understand why you’re not a huge success. You’re a great actor,” Vee said. “Plus, you’re gorgeous. Just look at those big, blue eyes and per
fect skin, not to mention that sexy, slender bod! The fact that you’re a total hottie has to count for something in Hollywood.”
“Thanks for the compliment, but nothing seems to matter—not my appearance, or how many acting classes I take, or anything, really.” I drank some champagne and resisted the urge to sigh. Then I tried to change the subject with, “Anyway, enough about that. New Year’s is for celebrating, not pity parties.”
“So, why don’t you go find Lorenzo and celebrate all night long?” Vee’s big grin made his meaning perfectly clear.
“That’s not going to happen. It’s bad enough that I kissed him. I don’t even know what I was thinking.”
“Um, that you really like him? You’ve had a crush on Lorie for months, pretty much since the day you moved to the resort.”
Craig asked, “Which one’s Lorenzo?”
Vee stood up and craned his neck as he scanned the crowd. Then he pointed and said, “He’s that tall, muscular Latino daddy standing over by the seahorse fountain.”
I exclaimed, “Wow, subtle! Would you sit down, Vee?” Fortunately, Lorenzo’s back was to us, so he missed my friend’s attempt at embarrassing the shit out of me.
While he took his seat, Craig asked, “So what’s the problem? Is that guy in a relationship?”
“He’s a widower,” I said, “and in no way ready to start dating again. Even if he was, he’s thirteen years older than I am, so he probably wouldn’t consider me boyfriend material.”
Vee looked confused. “Is he a widower? I thought he and Javier weren’t married.”
“The word should still apply to him,” I said. “They lived together and were totally committed, and Lorie’s heart broke when he lost him.”
Craig asked, “What happened to his partner?”
“He died of cancer at thirty-nine.”
“Wow, that’s so sad.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” I muttered. “It’s been about two years, but how do you ever really get over something like that?”
“By starting something new with a hot younger man,” Vee said.
“Yeah, that would probably do it.” Craig got up and asked, “Could one of you point me to the restroom?” After Vee gave him directions, he said, “Be right back,” and disappeared into the crowd.
I leaned in and told my friend, “He’s cute. Are you two on a date?”
“I have no idea.”
“Seriously?”
Vee shrugged. “I intended for it to be a date when I met him this afternoon, but ever since he got here, I’ve just gotten a friend vibe from him. I’m not even sure if he’s gay, although he didn’t balk at the idea of kissing you.”
“How has that subject not come up?”
“Almost as soon as he arrived, we got caught up in a big poker game that was happening in the lobby, so we’ve barely talked. The card game ended just in time for everyone to come outside and count down to the new year, and at midnight, he gave me a hug instead of a kiss. Then we ran into you a minute later, and now here we are.”
I got up and said, “In that case, I’ll stop being a third wheel. When he gets back, ask him to dance and see what happens.”
“You don’t have to run off.”
“It’s fine. I should check on Madame Leota anyway. She probably doesn’t like all the noise from the party.”
Vee shot me a look. “You use your cat as an excuse a lot, even though she’s actually super chill and is probably sound asleep right now.”
“You know what? You’re right about that, so here’s the truth. I’m a little depressed, so I want to go to my room, put my pajamas back on, and wrap myself in a blanket. I’m also fucking starving because I skipped dinner, so I really need to eat something.”
My friend gave me a hug. “I totally get it. On your way out, you should make a pit stop in the dining room. The caterers set up a fantastic dessert buffet in there.”
“I’ll check it out.”
“Just so you know, I plan to talk you out of giving up on acting,” Vee said, “but that’s a conversation for tomorrow. For now, go treat yourself.”
After we said good night, I took his advice and stopped off in the dining room. The buffet table was brimming with gorgeous, decadent treats, and I got excited when I spotted my very favorite dessert. I picked up a plate that held a thick slice of strawberry cheesecake, but then I hesitated.
It wasn’t news to me that I had a difficult relationship with food. I’d been bullied mercilessly for being chubby as a kid, and because I was clearly gay, and for being so poor that our church gave us care packages of food and used clothing. It wasn’t like any of the families in that hick town were well-off. They just did marginally better than mine, but that was enough for the other kids to look down on me.
I was powerless to do anything about most of that, but in my sophomore year of high school, I decided to take control of my body. That was when the diets started. It was also when I made the decision to pursue an acting career. It was going to be the ticket to a better life, not just for me, but for my parents.
But I’d failed. God, how I’d failed.
I put down the plate with that delicious-looking cheesecake. I didn’t deserve it. Then I straightened my posture and left the dining room, carefully avoiding the party by cutting through both buildings on the way back to my room.
When I’d accepted my friend Beck’s offer to stay at Seahorse Ranch, he’d given me a choice of accommodations. I’d opted to convert a disused office into a studio apartment, because it gave me more privacy than opting to stay in one of the guest rooms. It was at the back of the less busy of the two main buildings, down a hallway that was for staff only. It was usually pretty quiet, but that night the party could be heard throughout the property.
My cat glanced at me as I stepped through the door, and I said, “Hi, beautiful,” as I ran a hand over her long, gray fur. As was often the case, she was curled up in the very center of my bed.
After carefully hanging up my suit and button-down shirt, I changed back into what I’d been wearing before giving in to the ridiculous idea of a New Year’s kiss with Lorenzo. My white tank top was designer, the gray and white striped pajama pants were silk, and the oversized gray cardigan was cashmere. When it came to my clothes, I knew I totally overcompensated for growing up with ragged hand-me-downs.
The makeshift apartment didn’t have a kitchen, but there was a mini fridge and a shelving unit that acted as a pantry in the back corner, beside the sliding glass door that opened onto a small patio. I microwaved a mug of water and was just about to drop in a tea bag when a knock made me flinch.
Even though I really didn’t want company, I crossed the room and opened the door a crack to see who was there. Then I flung it open.
Lorenzo was carrying a cardboard box, and when he smiled at me, my heart stumbled. “Hi,” he said. “Can I come in?”
“Yeah, of course.” As he swept into the room, I stepped back and absently reached up to fix my hair. It was a bad habit, that self-conscious preening, and I stuffed my hands in my pockets to make myself stop as I murmured, “About earlier. I’m sorry. I know that New Year’s kiss was weird and awkward, and—”
He turned to me and said, “You thought it was weird and awkward?”
“Well, no. But you obviously did.”
“It just caught me off guard, especially since I wasn’t expecting to see you at the party. You’d told me you were planning to give it a skip.”
“Yeah, I was going to go to bed early. But then—” I really wanted to kiss you. “—I decided I didn’t want to ring in the new year by myself.” I shifted my weight from one foot to the other as he sat down on my white couch and started unpacking the box. “What, um, what are you doing here?” Ugh, I was being such a dork.
“Vee just told me you’re planning to give up acting.”
“You already knew that. I told you four months ago.”
“But now it sounds like you’re actually going through with it.”
Lorenzo was lining up several takeout containers on the chrome and glass coffee table, and he said, “Vee also mentioned you hadn’t eaten, so I brought you some food.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“I worry about you, Will.” As he carefully lifted a plate of strawberry cheesecake from the box, he said, “I saw you at the buffet table. It looked like you really wanted this, and it made me sad when you put it back. You deny yourself so much.”
“You were watching me?”
“I just happened to look over and see you in there. You know the dining room is like a fishbowl with its glass walls.” He slid over a few inches and touched the spot right beside him. “Come join me.” I did as he asked, and when I glanced at him, he said, “So, that kiss. Did you do that just because it’s New Year’s?”
I thought about playing it off, but I couldn’t lie about this. “It was something I’d been thinking about for a while.”
We both paused, as if we were waiting to see what the other would do. It felt like our entire relationship teetered on a knife’s edge. In the next few seconds it could tip one way or another, sliding back toward friendship or plunging forward into uncharted territory. I reached up slowly, so he could stop me if he wanted to. He met my gaze as my fingertips skimmed his short beard.
Since I’d already kissed him once, I decided whatever happened next had to be up to him. I held my breath and waited as my touch on his cheek became a light caress. Some sort of strong emotion churned in his brown eyes, and he told me, “Just so you know, I’m not ready for a relationship, and—”
