Beachy Dreams

By Avery Mist

Eric must hit rock bottom to accept the gay man within.

 

Baseball is Eric Wagner's life. He is engaged to Anna, his long-time girlfriend, but she leaves him before they exchange vows because she thinks their relationship lacks passion.

 

Anna even has the audacity to tell Eric that she thinks he might be gay.

 

Eric takes their honeymoon beach vacation by himself to avoid wasting the money he spent. He expects to sulk for ten days, but the tides turn in Eric's favor when he meets the hotel's bartender, Jerry.

 

Beachy Dreams is a heartwarming m/m romance with instant love, no cheating, sweet heat, Southern beaches, and a HEA.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Avery Mist
• Release date: Sep 23, 2021
• ISBN: 9798224434305

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Copyright © 2021 Avery Mist

All rights reserved.

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form of by any means, including photocopying or other electronic mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the few exceptional cases permitted by copyright law, which includes brief quotations in reviews. For permission requests, email [e-mail]

Cover Design: Copyright © 2021 Avery Mist (All images and fonts paid and royalty free and available for commercial use without attribution)

BEACHY DREAMS

Gay MM Romance

18, 500 words

Avery Mist

To my readers

CHAPTER ONE

Eric Wagner once thought he had it all: a promising baseball career, a degree in business as backup, and a gorgeous woman he called his fiancée. His picture-perfect life blew up in his face when Anna left him at the altar for a man she’d been cheating on him with for months. Eric thought he and Anna were waiting until their wedding night to make love, but she had other plans.

It was the evening after Eric’s failed wedding when he heard a knock on the door. He was sitting at the edge of the bed in the hotel he’d booked to begin his honeymoon with Anna. He’d bought tickets for them to fly to South Carolina the following day. South Carolina was Anna’s idea. She wanted to eat the food, visit the beaches, and tour the architecture.

Eric stood from the bed to see who was at the door. To his surprise, Anna was standing on the other side. He hadn’t heard from her in days. Not since the night of her bachelorette party. Eric did his best to ignore the hickey on Anna’s neck as she stood in the hotel room's doorway. She had her hair down in an attempt to cover it, but the mark took up half her neck.

Neither spoke. They stared at each other. What could they say when Anna had left Eric at the altar? He thought they had the perfect life, but it was clear Anna felt differently. He never once gave her a hickey. If she needed sex so badly before saying their vows, she should have told him. He would have done what it took to have the wife who looked perfect by his side.

Anna broke the silence. I’m sorry, Eric. You have no idea how much.

Why couldn’t you have called off the engagement if you were just going to leave me for another guy? Do you know how embarrassing it was standing up there waiting for you?

Anna dropped her gaze to the floor and played with her hair. She wished their situation were different. She went back and forth about going through with the wedding, but Stanley convinced her to leave Eric in the end. Stanly was Anna’s lover, and he looked at her in ways Eric never had. She never wanted to have an affair. She never wanted to become that woman. The changes happened as quick as egg whites cooking in a hot skillet.

Stanley showed Anna the truth she had blinded herself to while dating Eric for years. The clues were subtle, but they came out eventually. Anna wondered if Eric ever would, but he deserved to know why she left him, even if he didn’t believe the reason for himself.

Do you mind if I come in for a second? My actions warrant an explanation.

Eric shrugged and opened the door wider for Anna to pass. She stepped into the hotel room; positive she’d made the right decision to leave Eric. He would find his way. Her leaving would be best for them both. She sat in the chair on the far side of the room. Eric returned to his place at the end of the bed, waiting for Anna to explain why she’d left him.

Anna sighed as Eric stared at her. She didn’t know where to begin. She knew he’d seen her hickey, but she wouldn’t apologize. Stanley loved her. He loved her body. He wasn’t afraid of it like Eric, who never touched her. Eric barely kissed her. He invited her out when photographers were present, but then she wouldn’t hear from him for a few days. Anna used to lose herself in the title of being a somewhat famous minor league baseball player’s girlfriend, but the illusion she’d created in her mind quickly dissipated once Stanley entered her life.

Are you going to say something, Anna?

Yes, she said. Would you mind grabbing me a cup of water first?

Eric crossed the room to the bucket of ice he’d grabbed earlier and made Anna a cup of water. She chugged it. Eric waited on the bed with his hands in his lap.

You’re an incredible guy, Eric. I never meant to hurt you, said Anna. She moved her hair to the side of her neck with Stanley’s mark.

You hurt me a lot, Anna. Eric had spent the entire afternoon crying. Not so much over the loss of Anna, but from the damage to his image. The embarrassment of both their families seeing him waiting at the altar while Anna was probably receiving that hickey, unconcerned about the damage she caused. It suddenly exhausted Eric having Anna in his room. Tell me your reason or leave. I can’t look at that nasty hickey another second.

Anna turned bright red, but Eric had the