GENRE: Gay Romance
LENGTH: 12,201 words
RATING:

When Patrick Holt’s ex-boyfriend Clay Teal asks him to serve as the best man in his wedding to the man he left Patrick for, Patrick initially balks at the request. Even though he and Clay have been on fairly good terms since their breakup, Patrick is still bitter about the way Clay dumped him.

But after Patrick’s new boyfriend convinces him that being a part of Clay’s wedding would help to resolve the years of “issues” between the two men, Patrick reluctantly agrees.

In the weeks leading up to the big day, Patrick discovers he’s having a very hard time dealing with Clay’s upcoming nuptials. He also finds himself thinking more about his failed relationship with Clay and the events that led to their breakup. And, at the center of it all, is one lovely blue velvet jacket.

Will the same problems follow him into his new relationship?

EXCERPT:

"Clay, I know you didn't come all the way to Evanston to shoot the shit with me," I said, settling back in my chair. "What's up?"

Clay looked like he was about to vomit. I watched him take another swig from his can of beer before swallowing and looking at me.

"Dean and I are getting married."

I stared at him. "What?"

"Dean and I are getting married," he repeated.

Even as I could feel blood rushing to my face, I did my best to tamp down the rage I felt and gave Clay a weak smile. "That's great. Congratulations."

Clay's gray eyes flickered over me. "You're angry."

I took another swig of beer and shook my head. "I'm not. I'm just surprised."

And I was surprised. When Clay and I were together, we'd never talked about getting married. Well, gay marriage wasn't legal then, but we could have had a civil union, but we'd never talked about that either. Now he'd been seeing someone for five minutes (okay, not five minutes, but less than the time we'd been together) and he was suddenly ready to walk down the aisle with him. Unbelievable.

"I'd like you to come to the wedding," Clay said.

I cocked my head, wondering if I'd heard him correctly. "You want me to come to your wedding? Really?"

He nodded. "Having you there would mean a lot to me."

"How does Dean feel about that?"

"He's fine with it. I wouldn't be here if he wasn't."

I didn't know what to say about that so I took another sip of beer instead. Part of me felt like Clay's invitation was just a way to rub his relationship with Dean in my face, but the other part of me felt the invitation was heartfelt and sincere. Despite my anger over our breakup, Clay and I had both moved on to different partners and we both seemed to be happy in our new relationships. I was certainly happy in mine with Eric and he, apparently, was happy in his since he and Dean were getting married.

"I'm inviting your mom," Clay said.

I forced myself not to roll my eyes at that. "Why am I not surprised? She'll come, too. She adores you." My mother did adore Clay and he adored her also. She took our breakup almost as hard as I did.

"So will you come?" he asked.

"Okay," I said with a shrug. "I assume I'll get a formal invitation in the mail, right?"

"Yes."

"And I'll be able to bring Eric?"

"Of course."

I nodded. "Fine."

Clay hesitated for a few seconds before saying, "There's something else."

"What? Are you pregnant, too?" I asked with a smirk.

"Yeah. The baby's due in December."

"Another virgin birth?" I asked before howling with laughter. Clay couldn't help laughing himself. At least we weren't yelling at each other. That was a good sign.

"Patrick, I didn't come here just to invite you to the wedding," Clay said. "I'd also like for you to be my best man."

I looked at him like he'd just spoken in a foreign language. "What?"

"I want you to be my best man."

"Why the hell would you want that?"

"Because you're the one person in my life, other than Dean, who understands what it means for me to love another man."

I let out a short, nasty laugh. "Yeah, I understand all right. I understand that you were loving another man behind my back while you claimed to be loving me."

And just like that, the conversation went from sugar to shit.