GENRE: Gay Erotic Romance
LENGTH: 67,477 words
RATING:

Liam cancelled his wedding when his fiancé Jasper ran away with his best friend. About to go on the honeymoon alone, Liam meets eighteen-year-old Milo, who desperately wants an airline ticket to anywhere. Two strangers board the plane; two near-friends deplane, then live together in a hotel room on an exotic island, developing a unique relationship. Back in England, Jasper has to face reality without Liam and starts to realize what that actually means.

Then new information about their wedding and insights into their past relationship surface and the truth stops being black and white. If Jasper’s best friend didn’t confess before the wedding, would he still have run away? If Liam didn’t meet Milo at the airport, would he still have boarded the plane? Was it destined to go exactly this way, no matter what? Sometimes choice is ripped away from us and we are left to deal with the consequences.

With so many things out of their control, can Liam and Jasper heal themselves and their relationship?

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

“He left a note when he fled from the wedding. He said our marriage wasn’t a solution to our problems. He told me to wait for him so we could figure it out,” Liam explained.

“It’s quite ironic then, that the first thing you did was get as far away from him as possible,” Milo said.

Liam just laughed at that, because this whole situation seemed like a joke.

“The universe’s sometimes really cruel, isn’t it?” Liam asked, thinking of how him being here and healing was beyond his control. If William didn’t have the tickets, if Jasper decided to write him a text message like a normal person instead of a letter, if Milo wasn’t there at the airport ... What-ifs were endless but they created this universe where he and Jasper were living on two different sides of the mirror. They couldn’t meet, but they reflected each other’s loneliness and regret. Their decisions were reflected on the other side. Liam’s message pushed Jasper on the path of self-discovery. Jasper’s message pushed Liam to look at this whole situation in a different light. They interacted through other people or objects, but never spoke to each other directly. Despite that, both of them had a strong effect on each other as if connected through an invisible string of fate.

“Not to me. Meeting you was the best thing that happened to me.” Milo drew the other back from inside his head and Liam was surprised at the honest eyes staring right at him. It made him feel small and inadequate.

“I’m really happy I met you there too.” Liam tried not to pay attention to the extent of significance they put on their meeting. It’d just complicate everything even further.

“Liam, can I ask you something?”

Every fiber in Liam’s body screamed no.

“Of course, anytime.”

“What’s our relationship?” Liam looked at the other in shock as soon as the words left his mouth. Milo didn’t falter in confidence. “I like you, a lot.”

“I like you too, Moo,” Liam choked out, hoping Milo wouldn’t press the matter further, but he knew it was only wishful thinking.

“Not like that.” Milo frowned. “I like you, in a way that could turn into love. I like seeing you smile, I like seeing you frown, I like everything about you, even the bothersome things. My heart can barely stand you being right next to me. It beats so hard because you’re here,” Milo confessed quietly as his ears blushed with the power of a thousand suns. He didn’t look away, putting his message across.

Liam knew Milo had grown up in the last few weeks, he’d witnessed it firsthand.

“Milo, that’s --”

“I can be a good man for you,” Milo said.

“Mo...” Liam didn’t know what to say, all of this happening so quickly.

“You don’t have to say it back. But I need to know...Do you still love Jasper?”

The question hit exactly in the center of issues Liam faced. His heart was shaken, like a broken compass, unable to point the right direction. The answer pressed against his lips in a moment of sudden realization.

“I ... I don’t know.”

Liam didn’t know what to do about this new revelation.