Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 1

anything he didn't want to do. Please Lord, let him forget where I lived.
    ****
    What do you make, food-wise, for the man you'd like to make your boyfriend? I had no idea. Seafood? Nah. I wasn't good at steaming anything and fish sounded gross. A chicken? The idea had merit, but what the hell would I do with it? And what if Alec was a vegetarian? Probably would've been good to know that ahead of time.
    The refrigerator hummed behind me. Well, what did I have in the house to eat? I mentally scanned the shelves. I'd picked up a bag of salad greens two days before and it was still fresh. I had some leftover pepperoni. Not good for the vegan angle, but good enough otherwise. I got some of the recommended mozzarella balls from the cheese counter. I folded my arms. A little tomato sauce and I could have a pizza.
    Did I have any yeast? I didn't feel like trekking to the store in search of a premade crust. Hmm. Behind the eggs sat two packets of quick rise yeast. Perfect. The clock on the microwave read 6:17. Plenty of time to make the dough.
    By the time I'd finished the crust, I had more flour on me than in the recipe. Not good. I placed the bowl in the cupboard above the oven to rise and dusted myself off. If I took half an hour to shower, I then had about an hour to prebake the crust. It could work.
    Normally my shower time consists of yes, cleansing my body, but hey, I'm a guy. I rub one off. It's slippery, my mind can wander and I get my head more in the game...win-win. Each time I brought up a mental picture of Alec, Leon's face blurred him out. My stomach soured. Even if Leon forgot about me, apparently I never forgot about him. Damn.
    I dried off and flipped through the dresser. I wanted to impress Alec, but wearing a button-down and khakis wasn't going to cut it. I wouldn't be comfortable. I chose my favorite jeans, the pair with the ripped pocket and coordinated it with one of the few spotless t-shirts I owned. Forgoing socks, I padded downstairs.
    Getting the crust rounded out and into the oven took less time than I'd expected. I rummaged through the fridge. Mushrooms and onions. Could be allergic, but I didn't recall him talking about it when we were in school. Baking the actual pizza wouldn't take long. I'd slice the veggies and put them aside until he got there. We could talk while it browned.
    The doorbell rang and yanked me from my thoughts. I wiped my hands on the towel and headed to the front door. My nerves rattled and I blew out a couple of long breaths to center. This is the start of the rest of my life and it's going to be good.
    I opened the door, but the scene wasn't good. Alec and Leon both stood on the front porch frowning at each other. Alec held a bottle of wine in his white-knuckled hand. Leon looked like he hadn't slept in a week and smelled like he'd crawled out of a fifth of bourbon. His rumpled clothes hung on his frame and something smudged across his cheek.
    What do you say in a moment like that? Your ex and the guy you want to be your current both looking at you like you'd stepped out of a horror movie.
    "God damned bitch." Leon rolled his eyes and folded his arms, as if to accentuate the muscles in his arms. He shouldn't have bothered. "I knew you couldn't keep it in your pants. This dick is a pansy."
    Alec shrugged. "I don't see any missing pants." He squatted down. "Where's Dragon?"
    As if on cue, Dragon's barks filled the air. I don't know how he missed the doorbell ringing, but Alec had Dragon's full attention. He bounded through the foyer and jumped onto Alec, knocking him over into the porch railing.
    Alec belly laughed. "There's my boy." He knelt to pet the dog. "Give me love."
    "Your boy? Give you love? That's my dog." Leon reached down and took a hold of Dragon's collar. "And my God damned boyfriend."
    If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have believed the move Alec made. He nudged Dragon to the side before Leon could harm the dog, then jumped upright into Leon's face. "No one hurts an animal around me."
    Leon made a gagging noise. "Fuck you. You aren't his owner." He glared at me. "What the fuck are you doing with this douche?"
    "So you're Leon?" Alec stuck out his hand. "I'm Alec. It's not nice to meet you."
    "Are you still talking?" Leon swiped his arm through the air, narrowly missing Alec. "You're history."
    "Funny," Alec laughed. "I kind of am. But then so are you." He stepped into Leon's space, crowding the disheveled man. "As you can see we all have our pants on. And if I'm