His Admirer

By Lee Brazil

Be careful what you ask for.
"I’m tired of being taken for granted. I think we need to spend time apart."
Student and aspiring chef Zeke Benedetti feels left out and ignored. The last thing he expected his first boyfriend Gabe Woodbury to do was take him up on his petulant ultimatum.
Zeke only expected to shake things up, open a dialogue, get to know Gabe a little better. Instead, Gabe's blasé, “Okay, Zeke, whatever you want,” leaves him feeling unappreciated.
Miserable and alone, on the verge of begging his lover to take him back, Zeke’s pride—and a secret admirer—throw all his plans up in the air.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lee Brazil
• Release date: Aug 20, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301610761

Lee Brazil

Somewhere in a small town in up-state New York are a librarian and a second grade teacher to whom I owe my life. That might be a touch dramatic, but it’s nevertheless one hundred percent true.Because they taught me the joy of reading, of escaping into worlds crafted of words.Have you ever been nine years old and sure of nothing so much as that you don’t belong? Looked at the world from behind glasses, and wondered why you don’t fit?Then turn the page and see... there you are, running from Injun Joe in a dark graveyard; there you are fencing with Athos; there you are...beneath the deep blue sea- marveling at exotic creatures with Captain Nemo.I found myself between the pages of books, and that is why I write now, it’s why I taught English and literature for so many years, and it’s why my house contains more pounds of books than furniture.If I’d had my way, I’d have been a fencer...or a starship captain, or a lawyer, or a detective solving crimes. But instead, I am a writer, and that’s the best thing in the world to be if you ask me, because as a writer, I can be all those things and more.If I hadn’t learned to value the stories between the pages, who knows what would have happened? Certainly not college...teaching...or writing.

Book preview

His Admirer

A Contemporary M/M Romance

By

Lee Brazil

Copyright August 2013 © Lee Brazil

SMASHWORDS EDITION

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Be careful what you ask for.

I’m tired of being taken for granted. I think we need to spend time apart.

Student and aspiring chef Zeke Benedetti feels left out and ignored. The last thing he expected his first boyfriend Gabe Woodbury to do was take him up on his petulant ultimatum.

Zeke only expected to shake things up, open a dialogue, get to know Gabe a little better. Instead, Gabe's blasé, Okay, Zeke, whatever you want, leaves him feeling unappreciated.

Miserable and alone, on the verge of begging his lover to take him back, Zeke’s pride—and a secret admirer—throw all his plans up in the air.

Acknowledgement & Copyright

Copyright July 2013 © Lee Brazil

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, locations and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. As such, any resemblance to any persons, living or deceased, businesses, events, or locales is coincidental.

Trademark Acknowledgements:

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following trademarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

Band-Aid: Johnson & Johnson Corporation

Ben & Jerry’s: Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc.

Bose: Bose Corporation

Chubby Hubby: Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc.

Chunky Monkey: Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc.

Coke: The Coca-Cola Company

David Bowie: Jones, David R. AKA David Bowie

Dolce and Gabbana: GADO S.r.l.

Drakkar: Parfums Guy Laroche Corporation

Elmer's Glue: Elmer’s Investments Inc.

ESPN: ESPN, Inc.

Goodwill: Goodwill Industries International, Inc.

Google: Google, Inc.

Home Depot: Homer TLC, Inc.

iPhone: Apple, Inc.

Iron Chef: Fuji Television Network, Inc.

La-Z-Boy: La-Z-Boy, Inc.

Levi's: Levi Strauss & Co. Corporation

Neosporin: Johnson & Johnson Corporation

Speedo: Speedo International

Superman: DC Comics General Partnership

Vans: Vans, Inc.

His Admirer

Lee Brazil

Chapter One

Battle: Salmon! Kenji Fukui had just announced the ingredient in the first ever Iron Chef battle, when the familiar yet unexpected rap came on my door. Typically, my traitorous heart pounded and anticipation stirred. It had to be Gabe, with that silly patterned knock.

I jumped off the couch and smiled weakly at my sister. Um…

She frowned at me. Zeke? Is that him? I thought we were gonna hang out tonight?

Mindy and I were hardly dressed for company. She'd been home all summer, and we'd scarce spent any time together. Tonight was supposed to be for us, we planned to loaf around at home all evening with back to back episodes of our favorite campy television program, watching the judges gush over fish gut ice cream, while eating Ben and Jerry's by the tub.

We'd planned, plotted, and finagled for this night of twin bonding. Why the hell was Gabe banging on our door?

Yeah. It's him. I…

She waved a spoonful of Chunky Monkey in my direction. Go. See what he wants, but if you're not back in before the end of the show, I'm going to eat the Chubby Hubby, too.

Mindy was great like that. Thanks, Mindy. I swear, I did not double book on this night. The little excited pitter patter of my heart wouldn't let me be too mad at Gabe though. He was a busy guy, and I didn’t see him as often as I'd like. The habit he'd developed lately of dropping by without notice, though, bothered me. On the one hand, I considered as I strolled to the front door, it meant he was comfortable and happy in our relationship, which I had to see as a plus.

On the other, expecting me to be home and available without notice struck me as taking advantage. I didn't care for that at all.

I pulled open the front door and was assaulted by two completely different types of heat.

One was due to the late evening humidity and the high temperatures, but the other was all Gabe.

Tall, broad shouldered, thickly muscled, with his brilliant light blue eyes and, ummm, the scent of hard work clinging to him. The quirky little grin on his lips told me he'd noted my interest.

Hey, I forced the words past my suddenly dry mouth. A drop of sweat beaded on his brow and I watched it trickle down his temple and into the faint stubble of his jaw.

Hey, yourself. Gabe leaned forward and my vision blurred as he kissed me. I might have fallen on my ass if he hadn't held me up with his arm around my waist.

When did that happen? I chased his lips for another kiss,