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“I know I’ve asked you this before, but are you absolutely one-hundred-percent sure you want to spend the rest of your life with me?” Chip asked.
“You know you asked me the same question yesterday and the day before. When’s it ever going to sink in that I love you, and want to spend the rest of my life with you?” Tyler said, leaning against the wall.
Chip threw their overnight bags on the bed, rolled his eyes, and replied, “It’ll sink in after a ring is on my finger and you say ‘I do’ in front of Elvis. Now come on, let’s get out of here before Aunt Dixie figures it out.”
I hope you enjoyed Chip and Tyler’s romance. Tennis is my favorite sport and I had a blast writing it.
Here is an excerpt from my novel Max, my most recent release. It is the story of Maximo Ortega, and how he achieves happiness and love with a shy biology teacher named Jude.
* * *
“I saw you crying, and I, um, didn’t want to see you like that. Upset, you know what I mean?” Max said, and he bit his lower lip.
“I cry a lot, or at least recently I have been.” I sighed. “I hope I don’t come across as crazy, or, you know, unbalanced. It’s just, all this is new to me. Every man downstairs looks like he walked off the pages of an expensive fashion magazine, and I know I’m not much to look at.”
“There’s nothing wrong with you,” Max breathed. “I cry sometimes too. Life isn’t always fair, and you gotta let it all out. In fact, I think people who don’t cry are bizarre. Why hold all that pain inside?”
“All this is so new to me, this bursting into tears over stupid stuff all the time.” I murmured, then felt Max’s grip tightening around me.
“It’s a normal reaction, or at least I hope so. My brothers, sisters, co-workers, they’re always saying what a great guy I am, that I have a good heart, but you don’t develop a good heart by accident. If you get abused, or taken advantage of often enough you become a real expert on pain.” Max whispered in my ear, then he pulled back and looked me dead in the eye. “I know exactly how you are feeling. Those guys downstairs live on the surface, their only worries being who they can get into bed next, or if they are wearing or saying the trendiest stuff. Jude, I’m having an excellent time with you. You are attractive, and I can feel deep inside that you have so much more to offer than any of those superficial queens.”
No one had ever said these sorts of things to me before, and again, I felt pressure building behind my eyes. “I’m having a good time with you, too.”
“You’re not a dog, Jude, and neither am I.”
“Max, you seem like a wonderful man. Handsome, and real, like what a man is supposed to be like. I’m surprised you aren’t taken, to be honest.” A sudden fear gripped me, that this man was only saying these things, because he’d taken pity on me. He had to have someone, because he was too good to be true, or so it seemed. “You are single, aren’t you?” I whispered.
“Yes, I’m single. I don’t understand why. I’m smart, I think, and I do everything possible to be kind to other people, but I’ve never had a boyfriend before. I guess most guys aren’t into me, or something.” Max tilted his head down for a moment, and when he lifted his face our eyes met, and I felt a smile spread across my cheeks. At that moment the song changed, and a slower beat filled the air. Max’s hands pulled me in closer, and for a moment I felt dizzy, unable to believe I was dancing with this stranger. He smelled clean, like he’d just gotten out of a bath, and his broad shoulders looked like he could carry the weight of the world on them.
“When I first came out, marriage wasn’t even an option for gay guys. I mean, yes, men would pair off, live together, but I always wanted something more. Maybe that’s what frightened men away. Well, that and I’m not exactly the sexiest man alive.” Max said, and I placed my chin on his shoulder and swayed to the music.
“You’re handsome to me.” I whispered, and felt a rumble of laughter bubbling up Max’s chest.
“The way I see it, if you get married, you’re possibly spending forty or fifty years together. You can’t make a marriage work if you only fall in love with your eyes, and not your heart. That’s the problem with most of those dudes downstairs. They only see what’s on the surface, and not the beauty hidden deep inside. I’m ugly, I’ll admit it. But, if only someone could see what I have on the inside I’d…”
“You’re not ugly, Max.”
“My old man, he was really ugly. Overweight, loud, with a huge nose that’s twice as big as mine. But, my mother saw something else.” Max sighed, and I felt his breath hot against my neck. “My Dad died right before I graduated high school. After that, Mom told me that she would get depressed and miserable sometimes, and how Dad would always try to understand. He would listen to her, like really hear what was going on inside of her. I always tried to listen and be there for her, but I know it wasn’t the same.”
“Your father sounds like he was a wonderful husband.” I breathed.
“He was, or at least he was to my mother. I used to see them sometimes in the dining room, sitting across the table from each other, just talking and talking. I adored my old man, because he was so kind, and he made everyone laugh. That is one of the most beautiful memories I have, the way my Mom and Dad treated each other. My mother always looked at him like he was the handsomest man she’d ever laid eyes on, and I hate to say this, but he really was an ugly man. So it shouldn’t matter if you look like a gorilla. You can find love anywhere, or in anybody.” Max’s shoulders shook against me for a moment, then he pulled back and gazed into my eyes.
“I don’t think you are ugly, Max, and neither should you.”
For a few moments we said nothing, just stared at each other. Then I felt a drop of rain on my forehead. “I’m thirty-four. How old are you, Max?”
“Thirty-eight, like I said, an old man. You wanna go somewhere else? Out of the rain, and away from the guys downstairs?” I’d swear Max held his breath, waiting for my answer. For years I’d wondered what it would be like to be held by another man the way we were holding each other now. Though we’d just met, I felt a connection with him, and couldn’t imagine being anywhere else but by his side.
“Yes, please.”
As we descended the stairs, Max walked two steps ahead, and constantly kept turning around to say something else. His enthusiasm was infectious, and the closer we got to the hotel lobby the more excited I became too.
“You teach biology?” Max grinned, and I nodded. “Where do you teach?”
“Open High School. It’s in this funky neighborhood called…”
“Oregon Hill! The grocery store I manage is only two blocks from there. Wow, to think you’ve been that close for so long and we’ve never met. I went to Armstrong High School, over on the southside.” We were at the end of the stairs, and Max jumped down, skipping the last two steps.
