Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 3

surreal moments of my life.
    "That wasn't a pity kiss, was it?" he asked.
    My brow creased in a frown. "No. I wouldn't do that."
    He watched me for a second. Then he smiled his sweet smile. It was a smile I was starting to really enjoy seeing and wanted to keep seeing. "No. You wouldn't. You're always straight forward. I always really, really liked that about you. Still do."
    "I wish I knew more about the you now to say more of what I like about you," I admitted. "But what I do like is how you weren't afraid to recreate yourself. That takes a lot of guts."
    JJ absorbed that. His hand squeezed mine as he said, "Well, we got time for you to get to know me better, don't we?"
    I smiled and squeezed back. "Yeah. Yeah, we do. I'd like that a lot, actually."
    "You won't mind hanging out with the jerk?" he teased.
    "Only if he promises not to squirt me with a juice box," I teased back, reminding him of an incident when I was in second grade. He leaned forward and gave me a quick kiss.
    "I promise."
    We stayed out on the beach all night, lying on the blanket, looking up at the stars and exchanging stories from our years apart. And even of the years when we lived only a couple of streets away, but separated by so much more. And, ok, some kisses were exchanged, as well. When it got a little cool, we rolled the edges of the blanket up around us and enjoyed each other's closeness. In the morning, we woke to the sound of the gulls out catching their breakfast and a beautiful new day.
    I am happy to report that JJ the Jerk and Nate the Nerd became very, very happy together.
    THE END
    Author bio: LdDurham has been writing for readers other than herself since 2004, beginning in fanfiction and then moving into original M/M romance. She was an owner and writer for the subscription fiction site, joyboyisland.com, for four years and has had a couple of books published. She continues to write about interesting men finding interesting ways to be together.
    ****

… FEELS SO GOOD WHEN YOU STOP
    by Eve Ocotillo

    Good looking young guy in a baseball cap drizzling a drink down his chest..

    Dear Author,
    I work as a bartender at a bar south of the border. Came over on vacation with my lover, to celebrate our first year together, and ended up staying. Alone. See, the day after our arrival at the all-inclusive resort, I had to stay in our hotel room because I got the "curse of Moctezuma". By the time I felt better a couple of days later, he had found someone else with whom to enjoy his time off. Found them making out on the beach, sans bathing suits.
    So I make a living, enjoy myself, it's all sex, no feelings. Won't let myself fall into that crap again.
    Right now? There's a very cute someone crouching below the bar, having a body shot off of what I'm pouring, drinking it off of a very interested part of my body. He's a new co-worker and I like him, a lot, but I won't let it get beyond that.
    Dear author, can you give this gorgeous guy back his belief in love and an HEA?
    Thanks!
    Sincerely,
    Fangtasia

    genre: contemporary
    tags: bartenders; public sex; Mexico; beach; multicultural; first person
    content warnings: multiple partners (one-true-love by conclusion)
    word count: 13,852
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    Author's note
    Thanks so much to Bean Montag and mewenn (LJ) for reaction reads and follow-up quizzing. Also thanks to Fangtasia, Lauraadrianna and a RL friend for spot-checks on Spanish vocabulary and grammar, and Jen and her crew for doing all this. All remaining mistakes are mine.
     
     

     
    …FEELS SO GOOD WHEN YOU STOP
    by Eve Ocotillo
    It's not as if I really cared all that much. I mean, I did. Care. I'm not an asshole. But what I'm saying is that when Mike pulled that shit on me, it's not as if I went home crying. Because I'd known it would turn out like that. Because I'm not the kind of guy that inspires another to fits of commitment. I flit, I laugh, I have fun. Just—
    There's a saying, "Always the bridesmaid, never the bride." You heard that one? Except, yeah, it's not like I'd ever be a bride anyway, because I have a dick—duh—and I don't really get into dresses. Silk hose once or twice, sure—and there was the time with the—
    Oh. Right. So, yeah, my cousin, Viv, says that about me when she's yankin' my chain. Always the bridesmaid... Well—sort-of cousin. More like a step-cousin, because her mom and my mom were real tight—aw shit. But I'm supposed to be talking about me, right? Right. Weird. Onward through