One More Time (23 page)

Read One More Time Online

Authors: Caitlin Ricci

Tags: #gay romance

BOOK: One More Time
11.09Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

He wasn’t really my cousin. My mom just worked at the same diner, and had been working there for the past twenty years, that Trent’s mom had owned. We were cousins because our moms had been best friends before his mom had passed. “Say hi back for me, please.” I liked Trent. He was a cop but he didn’t pull us over unless we were being stupid. I hadn’t had a car when I’d left town for Miami so my record was thankfully clean. But a lot of my friends had had to take summer jobs to pay off their tickets for being reckless.

I hoped that she couldn’t tell I’d been drinking, or that I was probably pretty drunk. I’d only been really drunk a few times before but I was pretty sure this was one of them. I didn’t feel sick, yet, but I knew I needed to take some pain killers tonight to hold off what was certainly coming for me in the morning. Whatever, it would be completely worth it for the night I’d had.

“Are you staying out of trouble?”

I laughed. “Yeah. More or less.”

She laughed with me and I was glad we had the kind of relationship that, if I’d wanted to, I could have told her about my night and she would have only worried about me using protection. She was really cool like that. “Your dad made you a mixed tape, CD, mp3 thing… anyway. It’s all the songs about Miami that he could find. He’s going to send it to you in the mail. Some of them though…. Thomas, honey, there are days I’m glad you are only interested in boys.”

I shook my head as I laughed. “Men mom. I’m eighteen. I like men now. Not boys.” I put my forehead over my eyes and stared up at the ceiling.

“Oh excuse me. Look who’s all grown up now just because they got to move out. Well, I’m glad you like men then, because some of these songs about women and their thongs and booties. I may not be on top of all of what you kids do or know but even I know that when that song said booty it wasn’t talking about those cute little socks I knitted for Elijah.”

“Yeah. Probably not. How’s the baby anyway?” He was almost a year now, my little foster brother. I called him a baby, because he was so tiny, but really he was getting up there and growing a bit more everyday.

I heard the sadness in my mom’s voice and could picture her frown as if I was sitting right there next to her. “Oh, you know. He’s a handful. Those damn drugs….”

I nodded. I’d taken my first sip of alcohol with my friends in one of their dad’s man caves while we were in middle school, but I’d been really careful never to get involved with any kinds of drugs because I saw what they did to the babies my mom fostered. It wasn’t that I planned to ever have kids, biologically anyway, but I just didn’t want to be a part of something that hurt babies so much.

“Yeah. I know. I’m sure it’s tough. Are you still thinking about taking in those brothers too?” I asked her. My mom was always fostering more kids. There were a few that she’d adopted over the years, like me, but most of them were only with her during their court cases or before they got placed with a family member.

“Oh you know, with you out of the house, it seems like someone should be using your room. I can’t very well make Saturday morning pancake shapes for just your dad and I.”

God I missed Saturday morning pancakes already. My mom put cinnamon in the pancakes then dusted them with sugar. She used real butter too, the kind she made from shaking heavy whipping cream in a mason jar until it got all hard. My stomach growled, even though I’d had a cheeseburger, and I rubbed it. I’d only been gone a few days but I was already missing home.

“I can’t wait to come have them again. Missing you and dad already.” I frowned, wondering if I’d really been ready to move across the country. I’d considered any of the colleges in Denver, but I’d wanted to be by the ocean and see something more than the mountains for once.

“Oh honey, we miss you too. Don’t you worry, I’ll still be making pancakes when you come back for fall break. Or winter break, or whenever really. Don’t feel like you need to rush back home. Go, have an adventure. Fall in love, break some hearts, taste the ocean for me.”

I wiped at my eyes, because they were blurry, and realized I was crying without even meaning to or realizing I was doing it. “Love you, Mama.”

“Love you too, Thomas. Now, it’s after eleven there, if this world clock we set to Miami time is correct, so I’m going to let you go get some rest so that you can move in bright and early tomorrow. Take pictures for me and make sure to lift with your legs, not your back. You don’t need to be rushed to the emergency room before school even starts. Blow up something in the chemistry lab first.”

I grinned and sighed. “You’d be so worried.”

“But I would also have the first son in Thornwood to blow up a chemistry lab. Think of that now. All the ladies at the diner asked about you today. They think you’ll come back all tanned and ready for their daughters. Come back with some handsome man instead. That’ll show them.”

“I’ll try,” I promised her. Still smiling, I thought about the guy from the party. Of course I’d never see him again, but it had been fun. If she told her diner friends about what I’d done that would certainly give them something to talk about, or more like gossip about, in the tiny town I’d lived in all my life before coming here. “Talk to you later.” I yawned, really feeling the time now.

“Night, baby. You take care of yourself and remember to send me pictures.”

“I will. I will. Promise.” We blew each other kisses through the phone and I hung up. A couple of pain pills later, and an old movie on the TV to help me go to sleep, and I was out less than an hour later.

Keep scrolling for more from Caitlin Ricci

 

Available from

www.dreamspinnerpress.com

 

With only three months left on a lease-to-own agreement on a quarter horse Wyatt’s worked hard to own, a thunderstorm spooks General and he throws Wyatt, changing both their lives forever. Luckily, Kellen, a friend of the stable owner, calls for emergency medical attention, and Wyatt comes out of the hospital with a broken wrist and a concussion.

When Wyatt returns to the stable, he finds the owner has sold General to Kellen for retraining. But Wyatt’s woes have just begun, and now he must drive an hour to see his horse. The perks help balance the hardships, however, and Wyatt finds himself falling for Kellen. His fortitude is soon tested again by the ultimate betrayal when he learns Kellen doesn’t intend to return General after he’s trained.

 

Charlie thinks his Friday will be the same as any other working as an animator, until Quinn Fitzgerald and his rescued Asiatic Lion, Aseem, walk into the studio. While the lion is impressive, his handler is the real reason Charlie’s heart skips a beat.

Quinn has devoted years of his life to rescuing big cats, so he can’t turn down the donation the animation company is offering in exchange for using one of his cats as a model.

Charlie isn’t quite as confident as the handsome, charming man his sister teasingly calls Sex God Quinn Fitzgerald. He’s so nervous he can hardly talk to the other man, so he’s shocked when Quinn not only notices him but invites him to spend the weekend at his big cat sanctuary.

 

Six months after Kit lost his big brother to a drunk driver, he’s alone and feeling like everyone has left him behind. He struggles to get out of bed, to feed himself, to talk to his parents. Worst of all, the man he loves, his brother’s best friend, hasn’t spoken to him since the funeral.

Tattoo artist Jason always planned to wait until Kit was a bit more experienced and mature before he told Kit how he felt about him. But Bear’s death changes everything, and Jason opts to give Kit space to heal.

However, the next time they meet, Jason is startled at how far Kit has deteriorated, so he takes him home. Simply taking care of Kit isn’t enough. Marking Kit with the tattoo he demands opens a window, but Jason still isn’t getting through, until he begins ordering Kit around and sees how receptive Kit is to his strong hand.

 

The Intergalactic Star Pilot Academy has accepted Thierry Leroux into the elite class of sky year 2231. But the academy comes with a hefty price tag, and there’s no way he, a poor Sythe orphan, has the credits the academy requires. Thierry’s brother, Corbin, a high-class companion, suggests Thierry sell his virginity for the cost of tuition. It seems like a ridiculous idea, but it may be Thierry’s only shot, so Thierry asks Corbin to arrange a meeting on the pleasure planet of Wish.

On Wish, Thierry meets Corbin’s boss, Monroe, and they agree to auction off Thierry’s virginity. Thierry is grateful to the masked buyer he knows only as “Dragonfly,” and Dragonfly is gentle, making Thierry’s first time a good memory. When Dragonfly requests to see him again, and pay for the pleasure, Thierry returns to Wish. But in this game, falling in love is dangerous for the heart, and Thierry might not like the man behind the mask.

 

Werewolves are real. Marius enjoys the irony that everyone calls him a dog whisperer, not just because he’s a werewolf, but for his work at the local animal shelter. He has a unique talent for pairing families with their perfect pets upon first meeting them. But he’s still looking for acceptance and a forever family of his own. Then Jack comes into the rescue looking for a big, mean dog. To prevent Jack from making the wrong choice, Marius convinces him to adopt a needy spaniel mix instead. But when Marius learns Jack is tormented by horrible memories while at his apartment, he opens his home to the sweet, scared man. As their relationship grows, Jack feels comfortable telling Marius about the horrors he suffered. Marius hopes his steady presence, protection, and love can help Jack reclaim the pieces of himself broken on that terrible night.

Other books

The Romance Novel Cure by Ceves, Nina
Until We Meet Once More by Lanyon, Josh
Forever Blue by Jennifer Edlund
Whispers by Robin Jones Gunn
Lipstick Jungle by Candace Bushnell
Indulgence in Death by J. D. Robb
Apex Predators by Natalie Bennett
Killing for Keeps by Mari Hannah
An Education by Lynn Barber