Teaser From Saving Him, coming soon from Desi Lin
From Saving Him, coming soon from Desi Lin:
Nick woke Sunday with one hell of a hangover and few memories of the night before. He recalled going to Lauryn’s party with Gio. The other man seemed ready to move forward from the disaster of their interrupted date, but the more affection Gio showed, the more uncomfortable Nick became. Then Lauryn gave him a strong drink whose name he couldn’t remember and the next time Gio put an arm around him, he didn’t feel as uncomfortable. That led to another drink and another and another. More than usual. Each drink made him more relaxed with Gio, so he kept drinking. The last thing he remembered, Gio kissed him on Lauryn’s couch. It didn’t take long for his memory lapse to cure itself. After two cups of strong coffee, the events of the rest of the evening came screaming back. The moment they did, Nick wished he would forget again. Shit. He threw himself at Riley, and Riley took off like his ass was on fire. Normally, he spent Sundays on the balcony with Riley. They often wasted the day hanging out. Nick couldn’t face him though, not after what his actions the night before, and Riley’s reaction to it. He decided to avoid the balcony, instead spending the day inside. When Monday rolled around, bright and sunny, Nick wanted to bury his head and cancel the day. He knew he couldn’t though. Instead he rose, did his usual morning routine, and tried to slip out the door early enough to avoid Riley. It didn’t work. He nearly crashed into his neighbor, again. A hot flush crawled up his neck and he hoped Riley wouldn’t say anything about Saturday night. “Morning,” Nick muttered. “Morning. You seem like you’ve recovered from Saturday night.” Riley greeted, an odd hesitance in his voice. His hopes crashed and burned. Riley fidgeted, brushing back imaginary locks of hair, and picking at nonexistent lint on his clothes as he refused to meet Nick’s eyes. He didn’t appear angry or upset, which Nick feared would be the case. Riley bit his lip, his gaze flicking up to meet Nick’s before he glanced away again. It gave Nick hope things would be okay between them. Nick’s breath caught in his throat, and he waited for Riley to say something. But when the other man stayed silent, doubt crept back in. The moment became awkward, and Nick couldn’t handle it. “I’m sorry,” he blurted. “About Saturday, I mean.” Oh no, here came the babbling. “I never drink much. You know that, of course. I don’t know why I’m telling you.” Yep, there it was, the babbling. “I drank a lot at my friend’s party. I just needed to…never mind, you probably don’t care. Anyways, I just wanted to apologize, you know.” Stop talking. Please stop talking. “I didn’t mean to come onto you like that. I wouldn’t do anything to make you uncomfortable, you know. I just…um…” Stop talking, stop talking, stop talking. “It’s just, I thought you were Giovanni.” Oh, dear god, why did I say that? Stop talking NOW! “So, yeah. I don’t want you to think that you have to worry about me trying to come on to you again. So, you know, it’s safe to still hang out on the balcony together. If you still…want…to.” And now Riley looked at him as though he lost his mind. “So, um, I’ll see you.” Nick took off down the hall. Oh god, could that have been more embarrassing? At least he wouldn’t need to do it again. Now if he could forget Saturday night ever happened, he would be golden.