Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 3

stuff and then adding me..."
    "It wouldn't go down well," Jack agreed. "That's why I made a point of telling you that it was between us three. And I mean that. No sharing with your best bud and swearing him to secrecy, no getting drunk and shooting your mouth off. Nothing."
    "I've got plenty of friends but none of them would get this or the way I'm wired. They'd freak." Zach shook his head. "I've got as much to lose as you two. Hell, I'd lose you . That's enough to keep my mouth shut."
    "Told you. Sweet as sugar," Tay said and smiled.
    "Yeah," Jack said softly and kissed Zach again, his mouth promising everything on Zach's wish list and more. "Always did have a sweet tooth."
    THE END
    Author bio: Jane Davitt is English and has been living in Canada with her husband, two children, and two cats, since 1997. Writing and reading are her main occupations but if she ever had any spare time she might spend it gardening, walking, or doing cross stitch. She's recently taken up yoga and loves discovering her ability to bend.
    Jane has been writing since 2002 and wishes she'd started earlier. She is a huge fan of SF, fantasy, erotica, and mystery novels and has a tendency to get addicted to TV shows that get cancelled all too soon.
    She owns over 4,000 books, rarely gives any away, but is happy to loan them, and is of the firm opinion that there is no such thing as 'too many books'.
    Jane has thirteen books and a dozen or so novellas in print and more on the way. She's been published by Torquere , Loose Id , Total-E-Bound , and Ellora's Cave . She loves writing about hot men in love doing wonderfully wicked things to each other.
    Jane's Goodreads page and blog are here .
    And her webpage is here .
    ****

DRINKS AND DREAMS
    by Mandy Beyers

    A man lying on a massage table with four large stones placed on his back.

    Dear Author,
    Every two weeks like clockwork this guy comes in for his hot stone massage. I work my magic on his sore shoulders, back and other muscles. But this week, he had such a pensive look on his face that I had to wonder, what is his story? Does he have someone that he goes home to every night, or is he still looking for the one?
    Sincerely,
    Dee

    genre: contemporary
    tags: sweet no sex; hurt/comfort; masseuse; client; Irish pub
    word count: 3,587
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    DRINKS AND DREAMS
    by Mandy Beyers
    CHAPTER 1
    Every two weeks like clock-work, I can expect my last customer of the day to be quiet, strong Ronan Dury. He hardly ever speaks a word once I enter the room, already relaxing in the gentle warm atmosphere the spa provides its massage clients. I often wonder what he does for a living that ties his muscles into such tense knots, but knowing instinctively that chatter would not add to his enjoyment of his massage time, I keep my questions and thoughts to myself. Over the three years that I have been a full-time masseur, I have learned to read the body-language and facial expressions of the men I meet as well as any shrink or bartender. His expression is withdrawn and closed-off on a consistent basis, but on this singular occasion, I found myself unable to ignore him and just work on his back. On this particular evening, my client looked as if he might be on the verge of either screaming or crying, and before I could stop myself, I spoke.
    "Are you alright, sir? Is there a particular muscle giving you extra trouble?" Me and my big mouth – I immediately regretted blurting out my thoughts. Sometimes my inner monologue got bypassed and I spoke before thinking things through thoroughly. It was a character trait I had tried hard to overcome as an adult, but today my mouth was determined to slip its leash.
    The look on Ronan's face shocked me – he almost looked as if he had forgotten completely where he is and wondered what he was supposed to be doing. He gathered his composure visibly and then spoke the first complete sentence I had ever heard from him. "I lost my mother this week," he said in a low, husky voice. I felt the proverbial shivers up my spine as he spoke, but then the meaning of his words sunk in and stole away my rare burst of arousal.
    "I'm so sorry to hear that," and I truly was, saying a quick prayer of gratitude under my breath for my beautiful mother and grandmother that I lived with and supported. I was blessed to have great genes of longevity in my family, as my 89-year-old maternal grandmother reminded me every year as she blew out one more candle on her birthday