GENRE: Gay Erotic Romance (MMM)
LENGTH: 29,162 words
RATING:

Ellis Collins doesn’t mind his parents arranging a blind date for him. When they insist the date should take place at the restaurant they own, Ellis agrees. Everything would have been okay if he hadn’t identified the wrong man as his blind date. He’s beyond mortified, especially when his real blind date arrives.

Braylon Larsen is initially annoyed because Ellis has mistaken another man for him, but when he discovers the stranger is Drew Vinson, one of his favorite authors, he quickly calms down. The three of them enjoy themselves. They even start hanging out together.

Drew is attracted to both Ellis and Braylon. It’s obvious Braylon is also interested in Ellis and Drew. Ellis doesn’t seem to reciprocate their feelings, but Drew isn’t sure because the man is a lot harder to figure out.

Will the three men find their happily ever after in the end?

EXCERPT:
Note: may contain sexually explicit scenes of a homoerotic nature.

“Oh, my God! I’m so sorry. I originally planned to meet you outside of the restaurant, but you reached here so much earlier than I’d anticipated.”

Then the unknown man extended his right toward Drew who couldn’t help but stare at the stranger in bewilderment. Drew slowly stood up and grabbed the man’s hand.

“Uh --”

“I’m Ellis Collins, your date for the evening.”

Drew was beyond shocked. “Mr. Collins, I think there may have been a misun --”

“Just call me Ellis,” Ellis interrupted for the second time in a row while grinning widely.

Normally, Drew would have been annoyed, but for some reason, he didn’t feel that way at the moment. “All right then, Ellis. Listen --”

“Why don’t we sit, look through the menu for a while, and decide on what we want? Then we can get to know each other better.”

Drew chuckled, and he was startled by his reaction. He was even more astonished when he found himself doing exactly what Ellis instructed him to. Ellis had something compelling and charming about him that made him totally irresistible. While Drew was flipping through the menu again, Ellis abruptly started talking about himself. Drew didn’t mind it at all. Honestly, he was grateful. At twenty-five years old, he had ample self-awareness, and he knew how awkward he could be around people in general. He might have been born that way. Or if it might have been because he didn’t like or trust almost everybody. His parents had died when he was only six years old. Since none of his relatives was willing to take him in, he had been tossed around from one foster home to another for many years until he had finally aged out.

He never attended university. Instead, he had started writing horror and fantasy stories straight out of high school, and he was now a mildly successful author. Other than his editor, Jacqueline, he really didn’t interact much with anyone else. He wasn’t bothered by the lack of friends since he liked being alone for the most part. Most importantly, he wouldn’t have to come up with some boring topics to fill in the silence if there happened to be somebody else around him. Besides, the characters in his books had plenty of conversations inside his head, and he really didn’t want or need to have more outside of it. He would rather everyone leave him alone so he could enjoy some peaceful and quiet moments. Ellis was different, though. For some inexplicable reason, Drew more than simply tolerated Ellis. He actually liked being around Ellis, and that was a rarity for him. He wanted to encourage Ellis to talk more, but all of a sudden, Natalie appeared next to their table with a man in tow.

“Mr. Vinson, Chef Collins, I apologize for disturbing you.”

Ellis appeared somewhat confused as he briefly looked at Drew. Then he smiled at Natalie.

“It’s fine. Is there a problem in the kitchen or something?”

Natalie’s facial expression showed how uncomfortable she was. “Chef, I think I might have made a mistake.”

“With the orders?”

“No,” Natalie replied before pointing at the man behind her. “This gentleman here is Mr. Braylon Larsen. He informed me that he has a date with you tonight at seven. I didn’t know the name of your date. You only told the other servers and me to watch out for a very tall and muscular man with dark brown hair and eyes. Mr. Vinson fits that description. I immediately assumed that he must be your date for the evening so I called you out from the kitchen.”

Ellis gasped as he darted his eyes back and forth between the other two men while poor Natalie looked like she would rather be anywhere but there. Braylon was scowling, and he seemed rather irritated by the misunderstanding. Drew slowly connected the dots when he noticed the similarities between him and Braylon. Then he did something he had never done in public before. He threw his head back and laughed loudly, ignoring everyone who was now staring at him as if he had lost his marbles. The hilarity of the situation was too much for him. He couldn’t stop himself. He would have to include this bit in one of his books in the future.