After cocktails, Daniel and Ty embark on a passionate encounter in sun-soaked Miami. Living a thousand miles apart makes being together hard, but the last thing they want is to have the heartache of saying goodbye over and over again.
Daniel Rawlings is happy with his nine-to-five life in Chicago. He has an office job, a mortgage, and he’s about to turn thirty.
He’s happy, or so he thought. During the last night of a sun-filled vacation in Miami, he meets wild-haired, free-spirited Ty.
With the help of some summery cocktails, Daniel and Ty embark on a passionate one night stand, though neither man really wants it to be just one night.
With a thousand miles between cities, it may be harder than either man could have imagined. In the end, Daniel and Ty have a decision to make:
Is what they have when they’re together worth the heartache of saying goodbye over and over again?
Excerpt
Kermit juice, Daniel Rawlings mused as he stirred his drink with a fluorescent pink drinking straw. He stared at the huge cocktail and admired its color. It was green, and he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. What made a drink green? He must be insane. It was the sun. That was it. He was suffering from one too many days of lying on the beach and the sun had finally fried his brain. He was sitting in some club with a cocktail mostly made up of straws, umbrellas, and crushed ice, and talking to some guy he didn’t even know.
Shit. Said guy was looking at him again.
Ty, Daniel told himself, his name’s Ty. Maybe. Definitely Ty or something close. Trey? Troy?
He’d possibly had one too many green drinks, a couple of purple ones too, and should probably have stopped drinking two cocktails ago. Daniel narrowed his eyes as he sucked the ice-cold drink through the straw, and stared over the shoulder of the guy sitting in front of him and out toward the exit. It was definitely Ty, he decided. The guy was okay, but Daniel was supposed to be out with friends. He wasn’t entirely sure how he lost the three of them, but somehow he’d ended up alone with this guy. This all seemed incredibly irresponsible of him and them. He glanced at Ty. Okay, so the guy was better than okay, all sun-kissed skin and tangled hair. Daniel smirked. He was totally having naughty thoughts about the guy. Focusing on his drink, he considered why he was in Miami. In a month he would turn thirty, and his friends somehow came to the conclusion the best way to see out his twenties was in a glorious blaze of sex and alcohol. Their one mission seemed to be to hook him up with some hot guy. Sure he hadn’t been laid in nearly a year, but it seemed a greater concern to them than it did to him. As the alcohol in his glass slowly disappeared, Daniel began to think that this might just be the worst idea in the history of ideas.
Subtly, or as subtly as he could after drinking several cocktails, Daniel looked around the room. The club was one of the nicer places they’d been in. The music was mostly recent, with the occasional crowd pleaser thrown in for its more stereotypical gay patrons. The interior was painted in bright colors and yet still retained the Art Deco feel of the South Beach area. He followed the painted line running around the bar–the sun and beach theme had a refreshingly modern and quirky feel about it.
Taking another drink, he tried to spot his friends. He was slightly annoyed they had abandoned him so easily. Rick and Steve had vanished first. He should have known better than to head out with those two. They were as a good as married, and somehow they’d managed to make the so-called honeymoon period last into a seventh year. He rolled his eyes fondly. They were probably fucking in the bathroom as he sat here being eyed up by good old Ty. He wondered about Neil. His friend had quickly disappeared in search of some female attention. The lucky bastard had found a bachelorette party. The girls were probably trying to turn him straight. If only they knew.
“Pterodactyl,” Ty interrupted.
Did he just say…? Daniel narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Either the guy just called out the name of a flying dinosaur, or it was definitely time to stop drinking.
“What?” Daniel slurred and released the straw as he sat back in his seat.
Ty grinned as he seemed to realize just how confused Daniel was. “Thought that would get your attention.” He looked out from beneath his sweeping, dark bangs, and Daniel just wanted to reach out and brush them to one side. “Did I get it?”
Daniel rolled his eyes and leaned forward, catching the straw between his lips. Sucking hard, he filled his mouth with more of the sugary liquid. He savored the taste before swallowing and looked across the table. Ty had gotten his attention, Daniel admitted to himself. The way the guy just kept staring back at him was kind of weird. Did he have something on his face? Instinctively, Daniel raised his hand and wiped at his mouth and cheeks. He met Ty’s lustful eyes, admiring their beautiful shade of brown with golden flecks.
Amber, Daniel guessed at the color.
“It was always my favorite dinosaur,” he continued, “with its big wings and a beak that could peck your eyes out.”
Now there’s a pickup line, Daniel thought, and quirked an eyebrow. This guy was nuts.
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