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    Golden Days: Gay Romance
    Golden Days: Gay Romance
    Golden Days: Gay Romance
    Ebook203 pages3 hours

    Golden Days: Gay Romance

    By Trina Solet

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    About this ebook

    How can a nerdy, young dad hope to attract his hunky new neighbor? And if he can get his attention, does he have any hope of making it last?
    Kyle only recently became an adoptive father to a vulnerable little girl. He's a devoted dad, and Viv is a spirited and loving five-year-old. With the help of his little dog, Kyle worked hard to gain Viv's love and trust in record time. Now they are a family. That doesn't mean he has no room for a man in his life.
    Luke has been working in a string of nightclubs for most of his adult life. It was an exciting life, but Luke had enough of it. A recent loss sends Luke into suburbia in search of a more peaceful life. The loss of his brother is still fresh, but spending time with Kyle and Viv brings him so much joy.
    In the past, Kyle hasn't been lucky in love. He always goes for the wrong kind of guy. But with Viv in his life, he can't afford those kinds of mistakes.
    When Luke moves into the neighborhood, Kyle ends up with two wounded souls on his hands. Good thing he has room in his heart for both of them. If Kyle can get past his fears, he might just get everything he has always dreamed of.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTrina Solet
    Release dateJul 29, 2015
    ISBN9781311078445
    Golden Days: Gay Romance

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      Book preview

      Golden Days - Trina Solet

      Golden Days: Gay Romance

      By Trina Solet

      Copyright © 2015 by Trina Solet

      All rights reserved.

      No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

      This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, locales or actual events is entirely coincidental.

      All sexual activity takes place between persons eighteen years of age or older.

      This novel contains material intended for mature readers.

      Cover image is only for illustrative purposes. Any person depicted is a model.

      Golden Days

      Gay Romance

      Trina Solet

      Chapter 1

      Luke meant to drive all the way through to his new home in Lansdale. Then he nearly drove off the road and decided it was time to get some sleep. Next time he might not veer off the road. He might head into oncoming traffic.

      He wasn't picky about where he stayed so he ended up at The Sandman Motel. Too close to the highway, it was barely a step up from pulling over and sleeping on the side of the road. The threadbare curtain let in light from the streetlight outside. The yelling coming through the wall never stopped.

      Luke watched passing headlights come flooding through the motel room window. They swept over the ceiling and the wall then moved on. The sounds of night traffic competed with the drunken noises next door. But if he could fall asleep at the wheel, this should be no problem.

      Really, what kept him awake was a sense of loneliness. The drunk couple fighting next door reminded him that he didn't even have anyone to fight with. He felt rootless and friendless. He did have friends, but they were scattered all over the West Coast. His parents were still grieving Simon's death and looked at Luke with questions in their eyes that he couldn't answer.

      Luke missed his brother so much. He could hear his laugh and the way he yelled out orders over the noise of the club. Simon schmoozed with the customers while Luke stood back and let him do his thing. Luke was the quiet one, the younger brother always in his shadow, or as Simon used to say, Not in my shadow, you're under my wing, little brother.

      That's when Luke would straighten to his full height of 6'2" and look down at the top of Simon's head. His height didn't matter. At twenty-five and forever, Luke was always going to be his little brother. It was hard to think of Simon now. Even his smile made Luke want to cry.

      Closing his eyes, Luke pictured that little house he would be moving into. He was going to make it his home, finally live a life he never had. The house was so ordinary, so free of flash, thinking about it put him right to sleep.

      In the afternoon the next day, Luke arrived in front of his new home. He parked his classic Eldorado in the driveway and just sat and stared at the unassuming, little house that was now all his.

      Luke got out of the car. Feeling how the hours of driving had stiffened his whole body, he stretched and looked around. The neighborhood was full of nondescript houses like his as well as some nicer ones. The street was quiet with only the noise of kids playing and hammering in the distance.

      Across the street, an old lady was trying to persuade her poodle to do its business on a mowed lawn very much unlike his own. Luke's new yard was an unholy mess. Overgrown with weeds gone wild, it scared him a little. He wondered if there were snakes in there. Maybe snakes didn't come to suburbia.

      Luke turned his eyes back to the house. It was sky blue with nothing going for it except it was his. Boxy and featureless, it beckoned to him just like it had in the pictures.

      It was those pictures that made him buy it without ever setting his eyes on the real thing. That's why Luke took a few deep breaths before he went up to the narrow porch and unlocked the front door.

      The door stuck then it creaked when he shoved it with his shoulder. That wasn't a promising start, but what he found inside wasn't exactly a horror show. The carpet was a disaster and would be going into the dumpster as soon as he could get his hands on it. The beige walls were in need of a fresh coat of paint. There was a smell of cigarette smoke but some airing out would fix that.

      A set of white, saloon doors led into the kitchen. The whole kitchen was from the seventies – yellow wallpaper, beige fridge, Formica countertops, linoleum on the floor. He'd need to rip out all of it. But until then, he could make a perfectly decent sandwich or a pot of spaghetti in there.

      He didn't find any kind of disaster in the peach tiled bathroom either. It would be usable until he took a sledgehammer to it. After not finding anything that made the place unlivable, Luke let out a sigh of relief. The house was a little bit of a project, but as Luke stood in the middle of the living room, he decided he would much rather call it home.

      Considering how little sleep he got in the past few days, Luke was glad to see a mattress sitting in the corner of the bedroom. It wasn't in bad shape either. As someone who had last slept in a roadside motel, he wasn't too picky. He had time to get the place sorted out starting tomorrow. For now, he just wanted to catch up on some sleep.

      There was a hell of a lot of work ahead of him. The weird thing was that Luke found himself smiling at the thought. And why not? He was going to work and make this place really his.

      Luke awoke from the complete darkness of dreamless sleep into bright morning sunlight. He looked around at the unfamiliar blank walls. Sun was streaming through the uncovered windows.

      He sat up on the bare mattress and took stock of what little there was to see. There was his duffel bag in the corner, the mattress under him, the old carpet he was going to pull up as soon as he could. This was his first time waking up in his new house. Like this whole new life he was trying to live, it was underwhelming but not without potential.

      Checking his phone, he saw it was past nine o'clock. Funny that he slept so well on a bare mattress on the floor in a house he only set foot in the day before. It was quieter here, and the noises that did reach him were kind of soothing.

      Luke could hear the sounds of suburban life being lived out there – some kids yelling, car doors slamming, a car driving away then a little later a lawnmower starting not close by, maybe on the next block. Luke decided it was past time to join in. After all he lived here now. He could try and clear out that yard, see if he could get himself bitten by a snake.

      In the glare of morning sunlight, Luke could see all the work that needed to be done outside. Circling the house, he looked up at the roof and the gutters. The roof seemed OK, but the gutters were clogged. The good and the bad, it was all his. The overgrown lawn was his too. Luke frowned at it.

      You won't get the better of me, he told it then he drove to get some breakfast and to the store for some supplies. He was energized by the thought of getting to work. As he got in his car, he thought, if Simon could see him now, he would laugh. Luke could hear his laughter cutting right through the noise of the club. The familiar sound came to him so clearly. It was hard to believe that sound only lived in his memory now, that Simon wasn't out there somewhere giving a welcoming smile and raising his glass to someone.

      *

      For the last few months, Kyle had the same experience at unexpected times – a realization would hit him that he was a dad. That's when Kyle stopped whatever he was doing. He was stunned as if he received the happy news only that moment. Congratulations, Mr. Burton, the adoption was approved.

      The thought of being a dad made him smile foolishly to himself, and if Viv was there she would ask him, What? What? like he was keeping a joke to himself. Viv, his Viv, his little girl.

      He was having one of those moments now. Kyle had stopped working and just sat there, grinning at his computer screen. Deciding it was time for a break, he saved his work and pushed back from his desk to stretch his spine and listen. In a short time he had been a father to a five-year-old, Kyle learned that a quiet house could mean big trouble. He got up to see what Viv and the dog were up to. He could use a second cup of coffee while he was at it.

      Kyle swung by Viv's room first. She was changing out the battery in her flashlight, just like he showed her. Carefully lining up the pluses and minuses, she had on a frown of deep concentration.

      Did it go out? Kyle asked a little worriedly.

      No. It was blinking, Viv said as she got the batteries in and tested out the flashlight.

      Its beam looked weak in the midmorning light, but it was working. It was a small Pink Power Ranger flashlight that they found at a yard sale down the street. It might have looked like a silly little thing, but it was very important to Viv. Without it, she was too afraid to close her eyes and go to sleep. Her fears weren't as bad as they used to be. In many ways, she was doing so much better than the closed off little girl he brought home months ago.

      Having gotten the flashlight to work, Viv smiled at the job well done. To give her more confidence, Kyle wanted her to know how to change the battery herself. He tousled her blond hair and went to see if the leftover coffee was drinkable.

      After heating up the coffee in the microwave, Kyle walked into the living room with his cup in hand. That's where he found Gidget trying to dig through the carpet. She was such a cutie, a little brown mutt, but she did love to dig.

      Hey, Viv, Gidget is digging again. Distract her before she ruins the carpet.

      Gidget! No digging in the house! Viv screamed at her, making Kyle grumble.

      I meant play with her, not yell at her.

      Let's go in the back yard, Viv now called out to Gidget. She turned to Kyle. Can we?

      Kyle nodded. Don't let her dig up the whole lawn, he told her as he heard the kitchen door open.

      Going back to his desk, he turned his chair and the computer screen so he could see out into the back yard through the big office windows. After a few minutes, Viv poked her head inside.

      There's a man in the back yard, she yelled from the kitchen door.

      Kyle jumped and rushed right over. He was ready to reach for the baseball bat he kept in the corner when Viv explained herself a little better.

      Not in our back yard. That one over there. She pointed over the fence into the yard next to theirs.

      That made more sense. If anyone was in their back yard, Kyle would have seen them. Calmer now, he went over to see. No doubt about it, there was a man on the other side of the back fence and a damn good-looking one.

      There was a chain link fence separating Kyle's yard from the one that backed up to it. The house was on another street, a small, one story house painted sky blue. For almost two years now, the blue house had been sitting empty. Seeing that the guy was clearing the yard, Kyle wondered if the place had finally been sold.

      Kyle didn't envy him working in the summer heat. Curious about the guy, he went over to find out who he was. Viv joined him, holding his hand tightly like she did whenever they met anyone new.

      The guy on the other side of the fence looked better with every step Kyle took. He had dark, close cropped hair and beautiful brown eyes. His body was a sculpture come to life. Brawny strength combined with just the right kind of definition. Tall and sweating, he was shirtless and only wearing jeans. They were dirty from the earth that he kicked up when he pulled a plant loose from the soil. He had on working gloves and there was a pickaxe leaning nearby for the more stubborn plants. The guy saw them coming, stopped his work, and quickly put on a gray t-shirt.

      Hi. I'm Luke Corelli. Are we neighbors? he asked with a smile. He wiped the sweat off his face with his forearm.

      If you live here, we are. Hi, I'm Kyle Burton. This is my daughter, Viv. Kyle extended his hand.

      Luke took off one work glove and shook his hand with a big, warm grip. The whole time he kept smiling at Kyle in a way that made him feel like a hug and a kiss might follow. It's a known fact that gorgeous guys at close range cause hallucinations.

      Viv pulled on the hem of Kyle's shirt to get his attention. You didn't tell him the whole thing, she complained. Tell him you're my dad.

      I'm Viv's dad, Kyle said to Luke, but that didn't satisfy her.

      She put up her arms and demanded, Pick me up and show him.

      Kyle picked her up and held her in his arms, then they both turned to Luke.

      See? Viv said as she hugged Kyle tightly. It's me and Dad forever. She gave Luke a challenging stare in case he was thinking of disagreeing.

      I can definitely see that you're Viv and her dad, Luke assured her.

      Right, she said and smiled. Then she jumped down from Kyle's arms and looked around for Gidget. Seeing her, Viv had another complaint. You didn't introduce Gidget.

      Gidget is busy licking herself, Kyle pointed out. Viv frowned at him until he capitulated. Fine. And that's Gidget, our dog.

      After Viv ran off to chase Gidget around the yard, Luke asked him about the weird introduction.

      Why did she make you hold her up like that?

      Kyle knew it must seem strange. I only adopted Viv a few months ago. It's all still pretty new. When I was still trying to convince her that I was really her dad, I used to hold her up like that and take a picture of us to show her or just hold her in front of a mirror. I told her, 'That's us. That's a father and daughter. And we're going to be father and daughter forever.'

      She seems pretty convinced, Luke said, looking over at her as Gidget ran circles around her.

      Kyle smiled with pride, but he didn't want to keep talking about himself. He wanted to know more about his new neighbor.

      So you bought this place? he asked, pointing over at the blue house.

      It's all mine. I just got here yesterday. I'm trying to get it into shape starting with this jungle. Luke looked around at all the work that still needed to be done in

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