Okay Mr. Nice Guy
By Hollis Shiloh
Bobby Worth has never met Jack Randolph, but he already resents the guy. The whole town seems to think he'd be a better handyman or anything else than newcomer Bobby. Bobby keeps his head down and works hard. He has debts to pay and a past he'd rather nobody look at too hard. Then he meets Jack, and he's as charmed as everyone else. But there's more to Jack than the town seems to see. Sensitive, musically gifted, and sweet-tempered, the guy lives a nomadic life, arriving for a few months and then leaving again to try and kick start a music career.
Bobby plans on keeping his head down and minding his own business, trying to be a productive citizen after being exactly the opposite when he was younger. He's always been an outcast and tells himself he doesn't care. But now, he's finding himself drawn into Jack's life, and happy for excuses to spend time with him.
As they become friends and that friendship deepens, Bobby keeps telling himself not to be weird about it. Not to make waves, not to want anything, not to stand out. Not to let himself long for this guy he used to resent. But Jack makes time for him. Jack makes him laugh. Jack turns a bad day into a good one—and Bobby seems to have that effect on him, too.
Maybe he should take this to mean he's actually capable of forming the kind of bond he wants. Someday, he'd like to have a boyfriend for real. But right now, he just wants to be around Jack, in whatever way he can. Trusting Jack with his secrets, moving in together, spending time with each other more than anyone else...maybe it's not just him at this point?
55,000 words – New Adult sweet gay romance – low heat