GENRE: Gay Erotic Romance
LENGTH: 4,996 words
RATING:

Wade and Neal have always been friends. Just friends. They grew up together. Wade has always disliked Neal’s choice in boyfriends, though he never analyzes why, and when the latest turns out to be a cheating jerk, it’s Wade to the rescue.

Neal has always had a thing for his best friend, but Wade doesn’t show any interest in being anything other than friends. This time Neal thought he’d picked the perfect guy as a substitute for who he really wanted only to be proven wrong again.

When his best friend rescues him from a bad situation, Neal decides to take a chance to finally get Wade.

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

Neal woke with a splitting headache. He felt like giving himself a spanking for being so stupid. Now he not only had a broken heart but also a damn excruciating pain in his head. He sat up and his stomach flipped. Great, he felt queasy, too.

Wishing he could spend the day in bed, he struggled to get up, knowing he had a ton of things to do, including running a shop. He bit back a moan and headed into the bathroom for another shower.

Unfortunately, the only clothes he had to wear were the ones he'd worn yesterday, so after his shower he was forced to put on his dirty clothes. He wrinkled his nose at the stench of stale alcohol as he pulled the T-shirt over his head. He'd forgotten he'd spilled a little scotch last night.

Neal had figured he'd go get his stuff after work and not have to deal with it first thing, but that had been before he'd seen his appearance in the bathroom mirror and smelled the booze. He was supposed to open the shop at ten though and it was already nearly eight. That didn't leave him a lot of time.

He opened the bathroom door to the hallway. Wade stood there holding a mug of coffee. "There you are. I was just bringing this to you. Thought you might need it."

Neal grabbed the big mug gratefully and took a large swallow. One of the pluses of knowing each other as long as they had was his coffee had been prepared just the way he liked it. Lots of cream, no sugar. "Thank you. I love you."

Wade laughed. "If only I'd known that's all it took. You almost ready for me to take you back to McGinty's for your car?"

"Yeah. I think I'm going to have to hit the store on the way to my shop though. I can't wear this," he said, fingering the shirt. "It reeks."

"Want to borrow one of mine?"

Neal shook his head. "No, I'd look like a kid wearing his older brother's clothes."

"True." Wade grinned. "You want breakfast?"

His stomach turned over even at the word. "I don't think so. I'll see how I do with the coffee. After work, do you think you can come with me to get my stuff at Dion's?"

"Of course." Wade squeezed his shoulder. "It'll be okay, buddy."

Forcing a smile, Neal nodded. "I know."