One Night Alone Read online

  One

  Night

  Alone

  by

  Sarah Havan

  Text copyright © 2017 by Sarah Havan

  Cover design © 2017 by Sarah Havan

  All rights reserved. Any reproduction of this publication either in part or in

  whole is prohibited unless explicitly authorized by the copyright holder.

  This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual persons, places, or events

  is just mere coincidence.

  First edition, December 2017

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  For my writing squad.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One: Will

  Chapter Two: Parker

  Chapter Three: Will

  Chapter Four: Parker

  Chapter Five: Will

  Chapter Six: Parker

  Chapter Seven: Will

  Chapter Eight: Parker

  Chapter Nine: Will

  Chapter Ten: Parker

  Chapter Eleven: Will

  Chapter Twelve: Parker

  Chapter Thirteen: Will

  Chapter Fourteen: Parker

  Chapter Fifteen: Will

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  About the Author

  Chapter One: Will

  Parker: Hey, Will.

  Will: What’s up?

  Parker: Just having a day.

  Will: What’s going on?

  Parker: Feeling like a bit of a failure.

  Will: You know you’re not.

  Parker: So you say.

  Will: Parker, listen, you’re a great guy

  with a job that makes a difference.

  Parker: Thanks. I’m sorry if I sound so needy.

  My knee is bothering me, bringing all this up.

  Will: Take it easy today.

  And I’m here for whatever you need.

  Parker: I need a friendly face,

  someone who understands,

  like how you do.

  Will: Thanks. Maybe you need a night out.

  Parker: Your brother and some of his friends are

  meeting up at O’Malley’s tonight.

  Will: Yeah, he mentioned something about that.

  Parker: I’ll be there.

  Will: In that case, I’ll be there, too.

  Chapter Two: Parker

  My phone buzzed again. Will sent me a selfie.

  Maybe you need to see a smiling face before tonight.

  Thanks. Your eyes look so blue.

  I stood in the corner, looking at Will’s beautiful face, ignoring everyone in the teachers’ lounge. My co-workers all mingled about, shoving their mouths with food and Christmas cookies. A holiday party potluck.

  “Coach Sanderson, I heard you’re the one that brought in the chili.” I almost jumped at the voice.

  “Sure did,” I said, smiling at Mrs. Diaz, or Heather, as she insisted I call her. She wore a red low-cut sweater with a tight pencil skirt.

  “It’s great. You’ll have to share your recipe.” She touched my shoulder and smiled.

  I bobbed my head. “Will do.”

  “Who was that you were looking at?” She bit her lip and tilted her head to the side.

  “Just my friend.” A song with a bunch of bells jingling started. It reminded me we were supposed to be celebrating, so it was probably best to be nice and not dart away like I really wanted to. Mrs. Diaz had always been good at cornering me.

  “Can I see?” she asked.

  “What?”

  “I caught a peek over your shoulder.”

  What the hell? But going with the whole being nice thing, I sighed and showed her my phone.

  “That is a handsome young man.”

  “Yeah, he is.” I held my face indifferent, not showing the smile that wanted to pop up.

  “Good catch,” she said, giving me a slight nudge in the side with her elbow.

  “Huh?”

  “I gotcha. Lips sealed.” She patted my back and walked away. If I weren’t careful, I’d get busted by more than just Mrs. Diaz. But I was starting to think maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. Let more than a handful of people find out. Then, on the other hand, I was certain it’d cause quite a stir. The bi-sexual high school football coach. No more texting Will at work or staring at his picture. Our town wasn’t super conservative, but there were still many who thought I’d burn in Hell, and a few of those were people I worked with.

  Chapter Three: Will

  There he was, Parker Sanderson. Tall, muscular build, and just as sexy as the last time I had seen him. Also, my brother’s best friend. But the past couple of months we had started messaging each other when I offered a listening ear after he broke off his engagement, and we kept talking to each other since then. Things quickly became more. We flirted an awful lot. At first, it was confusing as hell, considering who he was and nine years older than me, and I had yet to come out, but things changed.

  “Jesus, Will, what the hell happened to you?” My brother Derek sat at the table with Parker and a couple of their friends.

  “Yeah, nice to see you, too, Derek. Hey, you guys.”

  “Nice to see you, man,” Derek’s friend Rex said, standing up and giving me a handshake over the table. Their other friend Mike also offered a handshake.

  “Yeah, you too. It’s been a while.” I took a seat across from Derek who sat next to Parker. Parker held my gaze for a moment, then dropped his eyes so he wouldn’t get caught.

  Derek crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re fucking buff as hell.”

  “You act like you haven’t seen me in forever.” Granted, every other time I had seen him I had on a hoodie or something. I wore a T-shirt that night, which was a bit snug.

  “It seems like forever. We live in the same town and hardly see each other. But what’s with all the muscles?”

  I looked down at the table. “I’ve been practicing with the school’s gymnastics team.”

  Derek laughed.

  I shook my head. “Reason why I didn’t say anything.”

  “You look great, Will,” Parker said, taking a swig of his drink.

  “Thanks.”

  “But why?” Derek looked at me with his head tilted. He never understood anything I did, that I could like things that he did not. Things that he didn’t consider masculine.

  “Because I like it. Been doing it since the beginning of the year.” I shrugged like it was no big deal, which it shouldn’t have been, but I knew Derek would make it into something.

  “But you’re not even a gymnast anymore.”

  “Anybody can join the team.” I did gymnastics until the age of sixteen, then quit, but I couldn’t stay away. I loved it too much.

  “So you’re on the team?” Derek asked.

  “Technically, yes.”

  “Why don’t you compete?” Rex asked. My brother hadn’t known Rex for long. They met at work. But the few times I met him, he seemed like a nice guy. He, unlike my brother, asked me without a hint of laughter.

  I waved my hand in Derek’s direction. “Look at the reaction I get just from saying I practice with the team.” Our other brother, Sam, he was between Derek and me in age, he probably would’ve laughed, too. To them, real sports were things like football and basketball, not gymnastics, which Derek once described as jumping around in tights.

  “If you like it, you should compete.” If it was only that simple. I had spent my life trying to prove I’m what Derek thought I should be. It was too late to turn back.

  “I’m not even good, so it doesn’t matter.” I drew circles in the condens
ation my glass of pop left on the table. The only one not old enough to drink.

  “You look like you’re boss at it. Seriously, dude, you got ripped,” Parker said.

  “Thanks.”

  “Can we come watch a practice? I’d totally love to see that,” Parker said.

  Derek looked over at Parker. “You don’t have to be nice.”

  “I enjoy gymnastics. I’d watch.”

  “Maybe, I’ll see.” I’d be just fine with Parker watching me (I had actually sent him a video or two of some of my practices), but anybody else was another story.

  We caught up with basic small talk, and Derek talked about his baby daughter, Sadie. The whole time I tried to make it look like I wasn’t staring at Parker.

  “And I know she’s still a baby, only four months old, but I’ll have to start thinking about her education. Public or private school,” Derek said, finishing off his beer.

  “Tomorrow I’m going to a symposium on the inequalities in public education,” I said.

  “Do they serve coffee when you walk through the door?” Derek asked. My brother tended to be an acquired taste. Sometimes, when I was younger, I didn’t like the fact that I acquired him by blood.

  “It’s a very serious matter,” I said. Some people just didn’t understand.

  “I know, dude, I’m joking. It just sounds a bit dull.” I loved my brother, but occasionally, I wanted to throttle him.

  “Not to me,” I said, snagging a fry from the basket of them in the middle of the table.

  “Well, dull is kinda your thing.”

  “Why do you invite me out with you if you’re just gonna rip on me the whole evening?” I asked, glancing at everyone else. Rex and Mike looked back and forth between my brother and me.

  “You’re always so sensitive.”

  “Did you need to buy tickets in advance?” Parker asked.

  I nodded. “Yeah.”

  “Oh, too, bad, I was about to say I’d go with you.” Be still my beating heart.

  “I brought it up because I was going to mention that I have an extra ticket. You want to come with me? I was way wrong thinking Derek would be interested.” I threw the best glare I could muster at my brother.

  “Yeah, totally.” The perfect answer.

  “You seriously want to go with him, Parker?” Derek asked, scratching his chin like he was so perplexed.

  Parker sat up in his chair and pulled back his shoulders. “You all seem to forget that I’m a high school teacher.”

  “You coach football,” Derek said, looking over at Rex and Mike. He was probably waiting for them to agree with him.

  “I also teach physical education.”

  “Isn’t it to the football team?” Derek asked with a smirk.

  “Some, but I also teach a couple of freshman classes.” I would’ve loved to have him as my PE teacher back when I was in high school.

  “But you’re a gym teacher.”

  “I’m still an educator and care about my students and their education.” I wanted to hug Parker right there. He always knew when to put my brother in his place.

  “Look at you, sounding smart all of a sudden.”

  “What is with you tonight?” I asked. He was pissing me off. Derek squinted his eyes at me.

  “Yeah, I’m agreeing with Will. What the hell?” Parker crossed his arms over his broad chest and looked directly at Derek. “And just because I was a jock doesn’t mean I’m an idiot.” He played college football, and everybody thought he’d go pro, but he injured his knee and couldn’t play anymore. It put his life on a totally different path.

  Derek sighed. “Sorry, dude. You too, Will. I’ve gotten so little sleep that I’m a bit on edge.”

  “Sadie keeping you up?” Parker asked.

  “She is up like every hour. And I’m cranky because I want to sit here and have a drink, but I’m tired and miss my baby.” He scrubbed his hands over his face.

  “That is adorable,” Rex said.

  The corner of Derek’s lip snarled up. “Shut up.”

  “Go home to your daughter. Cuddle up and go to sleep,” Parker suggested. “And when you talk to me again, do so respectfully.”

  “I don’t want to ditch you guys.”

  “Go,” I said. “We’ll be fine.” I’d had enough of him for the evening.

  “And I said I was sorry,” Derek said, standing up and slipping on his coat.

  “Go get some sleep, you asshole,” Parker said with a smile.

  “All right. Until next time.”

  “We’ll go with you,” Rex said.

  Derek downed the last of his drink after zippering his coat and took off with Rex and Mike. Parker and I sat at the table, staring across at each other, not saying anything at first. His eyes were stunning, a beautiful honey brown, and his lips were full and looked ready to kiss.

  “Do you really want to go with me to the symposium or were you just rescuing me from Derek’s jerkiness?” I asked, watching a drunk Santa stumble around the back of the bar. Tis the season to be jolly.

  “I’d like to go, sounds interesting and informative.”

  “Okay, good. It’ll be nice to have company.”

  Parker smiled. “It’ll be nice to spend time with you.”

  “Yeah,” I said, biting the corner of my lip.

  “You don’t have anyone else to ask?”

  I shrugged. “Not really.”

  “No friends?” he asked, raising an eyebrow, looking sexy and playful. I so wanted to climb across the table and kiss him.

  “You’ve been the main friend I’ve been talking to lately.”

  “We have been talking a lot.”

  “Yeah. It’s just easier with you. It takes me a while to warm up to people.” When I was younger, I was as shy and socially awkward as they come. Over the years, I became less so, but still tended toward the shy side. And Parker was different than other people. I always felt at ease talking to him.

  “Isn’t this your second year in college?”

  “Yeah,” I said, glancing down. I had the guys on the team. We talked and stuff, but I never hung out with them outside of practice.

  “Well, you have me.”

  “Parker,” I said, looking at him, wanting to run my fingers through his thick dark brown hair.

  “Yeah?”

  “You’re bi, right?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, not a lot of people know, but yes.”

  “Does my brother know?”

  “Yeah, he’s one of the few.”

  “Did he ever…?” I didn’t exactly know what to ask. Did he laugh at you? Call you names? Have a look of disgust on his face?

  “He was very accepting about it.”

  “Do you think it’s because you’ve only been with women?” Maybe I was just assuming, but I had never seen him with a man.

  “No, it’s because he’s my friend.”

  “And now you’re with?” I so hoped he’d say me.

  Parker got up, walked around the table, and sat next to me. He touched my shoulder with his fingertips and smiled. “I’m trying to figure things out.”

  I looked up into his eyes. “All of our messaging, chats.”

  “It’s all…I like talking with you, love it really.”

  “Flirting with me too?” I asked, anticipating what he’d respond with.

  Chapter Four: Parker

  I didn’t know what to say. Well, I probably did, but just didn’t want to say it out loud because yes, I flirted with this beautiful younger man who was my best friend’s brother.

  “Parker,” Will whispered, waiting for my reply.

  “I um…”

  “It’s okay. I understand.” His shoulders dropped and the melancholy Christmas song that started to play fit the disappointed look on his face.

  I placed my hand on his cheek. “We’re really good friends.”

  He nuzzled his face into my palm, and my cock began to swell. Somehow, I’d have to get myself to say that we were more than fr
iends. We were falling for each other. In all honesty, I began falling in love with him.

  “I work with kids not much younger than you,” I said.

  Will furrowed his brow. “There’s a big difference between a high school kid and a nineteen-year-old man.”

  “I know, I’m sorry. It’s kind of hard because when I think of you, I think of how smart and wonderful you are, but then it’s so hard to erase how I’ve always thought of you as Derek’s baby brother. Me and you, we’re just close. We understand each other.”

  He pulled his head back. “Did you just write me off?”

  “No, no, we’ll work through this.”

  “Okay. I guess maybe we should take our time. My family doesn’t even know I’m gay.” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

  I stroked my thumb across his cheek, and he drew in a sharp inhale. He stared intently at me. He knew I felt it too. I just needed a little bit of time.

  “They love you, and you do look great by the way,” I said. He looked goddamn fantastic. He was on the shorter side, had biceps defined with muscle (they were pretty damn huge), and his T-shirt stretched across his chest.

  “I’m no longer that skinny teenager.”

  He sure as hell wasn’t. “No, you’re not.”

  “We really do need to see each other more often,” Will said. We did, but I think I avoided it up until that point because I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold myself back. I’d want to touch and kiss him and so much more. I had dreams of the two of us together naked, under the sheets. And even though we didn’t spend much time together in person, feelings developed.

  “We have the symposium tomorrow night.”

  He smiled. “We sure do. And I also really need to make more of an effort to get together with my brothers. Maybe I’ll suggest something after Christmas, go up to the cabin.”

  “I bet they’ll like that.”

  “More time for Derek to laugh at my life,” he said, sighing.

  “Maybe it’s the lack of sleep.” A waitress came over, and I ordered another drink. “Want anything else?” I asked Will. He shook his head.

  “Thanks, sweetie,” the waitress said, looking at the two of us. We sat close, both our heads leaning in, me touching his face.