11k words, best friends to lovers, gay awakening, romcom, MM romance, HEA guaranteed!
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Straight guy (24M, photographer) tries to cheer up his straight best friend (24M, electrician) by talking about feelings…
What happens when Josh comes home to find his roommate and best friend, Ben, still moping around after his split with his girlfriend? Nothing good, because instead of doing the smart thing like getting Ben drunk and throwing darts at a wall, Josh decides to make Ben spill about the breakup.
The next thing he knows, their conversation about erectile dysfunction shifts into kissing. Turns out, Josh’s straight is a little bit bendy, and Ben’s straight is about as rigid as rubber band. Ending up in bed together isn’t what Josh expected, but who could blame him? Ben is hot as hell and twice as needy, and he’s a sucker for a man who doesn’t quite know what he wants but is willing to jump with him into just about anything.
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COVER design by the fabulous Golden Czermak
This is a substantially rewritten short story that first appeared in a long out of print anthology.
Excerpt:
“Ben,” Josh said warningly. “I am going to kill you if you don’t spill the details soon.” He ran a hand down his face. “I’m tired. I’m hungry. I want to go to sleep.” He glared.
Ben swallowed. “Um, we had problems in bed.”
What does that mean? Josh wondered, beyond confused now. He eyed his friend up and down. Ben looked like sex on a fucking stick. The ladies had been clamoring after him since fifth grade. He inhaled, trying to wrap his brain around this news. “Problems in bed. Like, what kind of problems? She didn’t come?” He had no problem discussing sex. None. His total lack of shame often got him in trouble.
Ben colored even darker and looked away. “No, she was fine.” He didn’t elaborate.
“Ben. I am this close to choking you.” Josh held up his hand with his fingers barely a half inch apart.
“Okay, okay!” Ben gripped the sink so hard his fingers turned white. “Sienna didn’t have problems. I did.”
“What, you blew too fast? That’s not that big of a deal,” Josh said, confused. “You just need to practice.” He leered. “A lot.”
“No! No, not that. God, I can’t believe I’m talking to you about this.” Ben ran his hand over his face. “Okay. Look, the thing is, I had trouble getting it up at all. That’s what the problem was.”
Josh frowned. “Trouble getting an erection?”
Ben pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yeah.”
Josh blinked. That was not what he’d expected to hear. “Did you go to a doctor? Maybe there’s something wrong.”
“No, I didn’t go to the doctor.” Ben wouldn’t meet his gaze.
“Maybe you should,” Josh offered, horrified at the thought of not being able to get it up. His balls tried to crawl up into his body in sympathetic fright.
“I don’t need a doctor,” Ben insisted stubbornly.
“But what if—”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, I can get it up just fine in every other situation. I have no problem jerking off. It was only with Sienna that it didn’t work, okay?” Ben muttered.
Josh’s brain fixated on the image of Ben jerking off, which was not helpful. “Did you have this problem with your old girlfriend Marsha, too?” he managed to ask, shifting his weight. The erection that had flagged during the erectile dysfunction conversation had made an unwelcome reappearance.
Ben looked away. That was all the evidence Josh needed. “Um, maybe—” He broke off. Fuck. He couldn’t say it. This was a stupid idea, trying to talk out relationship issues with his best friend. He wasn’t qualified to handle this.
“Don’t even go there,” Ben said, jamming his hands in his front pockets.
“I wasn’t going anywhere,” Josh retorted instinctively.
They stared at each other until Josh couldn’t take it anymore. His eyes strayed down to Ben’s crotch. He had to look. Dammit. Even with his hands in his pockets, his friend certainly didn’t seem to be having a problem in the dick department right now. Ben’s hard cock filled out the front of his worn jeans quite well. Josh’s erection throbbed. The sight of Ben flushed and aroused was not helping his own situation one bit. He tore his gaze away only to catch Ben watching him speculatively, one eyebrow raised. Shit. Busted. He was well and truly caught this time. Only way out of this situation was to take the offensive. Josh did what he usually did when he found himself on the edge of a cliff: he jumped. “You don’t seem to be having a problem now.”
erinmleaf 