Love in an Elevator

By Holly Day

Hayden Perry moved to Landown two and a half weeks ago. He was excited to get the event planning job he'd applied for, but apart from bumping into a cute guy in the elevator, things don't pan out the way he'd hoped. His boss is an ass and his co-workers are idiots, but as much as he dislikes them, he can't afford to quit until he has another job lined up.

Corey Hope's school years sucked. With a crippling stutter, he was easy prey, and despite being grown up, his bullies still haunt his nightmares. After he left school, he gave up on trying to talk, and communicates solely through sign language and written text. It works great even though he wished he could say something when Hayden flirts with him in the elevator.

Hayden does his best to catch Corey in the elevator as often as he can, and he thinks they might have something, but it all comes crashing down when Corey sees him having lunch with his colleagues. Corey might be drawn to Hayden, but seeing him with his school bullies has old memories washing over him. He won't let them hurt him ever again, and he'd rather forget about Hayden than risk Hayden hurting him.

How will Hayden convince Corey he's nothing like his colleagues when Corey refuses to see him?

• Language: English
• Publisher: JMS Books LLC
• Release date: Jul 23, 2022
• ISBN: 9781685501884

Holly Day

Holly Day and Sherman Wick are the authors of several books about the Twin Cities. Sherman Wick received his BA in history from the University of Minnesota and has been a member of the Minnesota Historical Society for several decades. Holly Day has worked as a freelance writer for local and national publications for over twenty-five years and teaches writing classes at the Loft Literary Center.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Corey Hope stiffened when he heard the laugh cut through the air of the restaurant. Kevin Sullivan had been the meanest kid in school, and there hadn’t been a day when Corey hadn’t hoped he’d be run over in the school parking lot—it never happened. He’d never seen a car close to running him over despite suspecting some of the teachers had the same wish he had.

As an adult, he did his best to avoid Kevin, but they had both stayed in Landown, which was a small city, and while they didn’t hang out in the same places or with the same people, Corey spotted him from time to time. Most often he managed to hide.

Turning a fraction, he searched for Kevin on the opposite side of the restaurant. Yup, there he was, sitting at one of the tables closest to the bathrooms. Corey’s heartrate went into overdrive. He had to get out of here before Kevin spotted him.

Looking at Brielle, who sat across the table, he waited until she looked at him before signing that he needed to leave. She frowned and looked around. Brielle was deaf and hadn’t heard Kevin’s laughter, but she knew Corey well and was now searching the crowd.

This Friday night, most tables were filled. Madame Toussaint was the fanciest restaurant in town, and Corey wouldn’t have frequented it as often as he did if he hadn’t gotten the food for free. That wasn’t true. He would still have come, but he’d have coffee instead.

Brielle’s family owned the restaurant, and they were all happy to bury him in food every time he crossed the threshold. He loved them, and not only because they fed him every chance they got.

Before he’d met Brielle, he’d walked around with a pen and notepad, trying to get people to read his notes when there was something he wanted to say. After he’d gotten to know her, he’d started taking classes in sign language. It had changed his life. His hearing worked fine, but his stutter was crippling, and sign language gave him an out.

He’d suffered through school, had avoided all kinds of interaction because of the anxiety they caused. He’d been sent to a speech therapist, and she had been convinced she’d be able to teach him not to stutter, and in the beginning, he’d believed her. He’d hoped with every fiber of his being, but it hadn’t worked. He believed she believed he could learn to talk like normal people, and he’d tried. Then he’d stopped.

He hadn’t wanted anyone to hear him talk—or try to—and learning ASL was the best thing he’d ever done. Not only could he talk to Brielle without problem, but people assumed he was deaf and didn’t expect him to answer. Surprisingly many spoke to him despite believing he was deaf. He didn’t understand it. Why talk to him if they didn’t think he could hear them? And then there were the screamers. Those who believed he was deaf and yet raised their voices when speaking to him, as if shouting would make a deaf person hear them. People were strange.

Brielle’s hands moved through the air. He’s gotten fat.

Corey grinned. She’d found Kevin in the crowd. He hadn’t gotten fat, he looked like he always had—a little older, as they all were. Getting ready to leave, Corey gave Brielle a nervous look. If he kept close to the wall, he had a chance of sneaking out before Kevin spotted him.

When he stood, she gathered their plates and glared in Kevin’s direction. More people had joined his gathering, and Corey sighed. A work thing perhaps. He didn’t know what Kevin did, but he’d started a company after he’d finished school, and word around town was it was going well. He believed it had something to do with events, concerts, and stuff, but he wasn’t sure.

He thanked Brielle for the food, promised to call her the next day, and moved stealthily toward the exit. Tiptoeing was stupid. The hum of voices was loud enough to cover the sounds of his steps had he stomped his way out of there.

Kevin wouldn’t say anything if he noticed him, would he? They were adults now. It hadn’t stopped him a couple of years ago when they’d run into each other on the beach, but he’d been drunk then. This was in a civilized setting.

The knot in his gut wound itself tighter. The Kevin he remembered from school wouldn’t have cared, but they were adults now. Kevin too must have grown some sense.

He was too occupied looking over his shoulder at Kevin’s table to look for the door handle. He hurried forward, too fast to react to the door not being there and the tepid air of the July evening wrapping around him instead of the scents of the restaurant.

His hand hit something warm and solid, but he was too startled to halt his motions before he slammed into the person he’d fondled. Shit.

Staring into a pair of sparkling dark eyes had his heart racing.

Sorry. The man’s tone was husky and low as if they knew each other and were in a different situation than they were. Corey raised his hand to sign an apology, but it didn’t obey him, so he smiled instead.

Are you okay?

Reviews for Love in an Elevator

[Orla · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Novella, nice easy read, does what it says on the packet.