Just a little teaser from my next published story in the Mixed Tape series at MLR Press. Broken Wings features Nathan from Broken Silence 🙂

Nathan didn’t know what to think when he saw Tim through the peephole. For a moment he debated not answering the door.

“I can see your shadow, Nate. Come on, I know you’re in there.”

Drat the man. Nathan huffed out a breath before smoothing a hand over his hair. He wasn’t even dressed right for this confrontation. It wasn’t fair. If he’d known his ex-boyfriend was going to show up today he would have put on something pretty. Or at least his power pumps. Nothing made a guy feel more confident than a pair of five inch platform pumps.

“Nathan?”

Ugh. Fine. He’d have to deal with this as is. All he had on was a pair of skinny jeans and his Dynasty sweater. Barefoot. No jewelry at all. Well, his sweater had a few sequins, but other than that it was just him. How plain. This wasn’t how he’d envisioned meeting his ex after a whole year apart.

Taking another breath, Nathan finally opened the door.

He looked up at the familiar face. They stared at each other for a moment, before he finally realized one of them was going to have to say something.

“Hi.”

Tim inhaled audibly. His hands clenched at his sides before relaxing. “Hey, Nate. Good to see you,” hesaid.

It was a sin how good he looked. Tim had always been tall, and he easily stood a head above Nathan whenNathan wasn’t wearing his heels. But, it looked like he’d gotten in shape while he’d been in LA. That, and he was sporting a nice tan. Apparently California agreed with him more than Toronto did. And didn’t that just suck.

The familiar mop of black hair was ever-present, as were his kissable lips. Damn the man.

He hadn’t expected Tim to show up now. To be honest, he hadn’t expected Tim to show up ever again. Well, that wasn’t quite true. It wasn’t as if Tim had slept with his sister and killed his dog. He’d leftHollywood North to work in Hollywood. Nathan really should get over it by now.

“What are you doing here?”

“What? Can’t a guy come and visit his favorite man?”

Nathan crossed his arms. “Remember how you were supposed to come to Vegas in February? Yeah, how did that work out?”

“Nathan. Come on. Let me in. We need to talk.”

Nathan wasn’t going to let him do this again. He wasn’t sure if he could deal with this a second time. He’d been heartbroken when Tim had left. His friends had even called an emergency intervention when Nathan had shown up for movie night for the third time wearing sweats and an old hoodie that had belonged to Tim.

“Is your movie finished?” Nathan asked, not willing to give an inch.

“Please.”

Well, shit. He never could say no when Tim gave him that puppy dog face. With a sigh, Nathan opened the door wider and ushered Tim inside.