Train to Somewhere Read online

  They unpacked the things they needed into the closet and stowed the rest away. Soon the attendant stopped by to check their tickets. Fortunately there were no chaperoning teachers this time. As they settled in their seats, a sharp whistle and deep rumbling beneath their feet signaled the start of a new trek across the country.

  Charlie couldn’t wait any longer. He’d been patient for too many years. He should have asked long ago, but he’d chickened out each time, just like with Ashley so many years ago. He’d kept in touch with Will, but for some inexplicable reason, they always seemed to avoid touching the hidden, buried aspect of their relationship. This time Charlie was going to take the plunge, no matter what.

  “How’s Skylar?” Charlie asked, his voice quivering ever so slightly.

  Will sighed, staring out the window with a glazed gaze. “We broke up, oh… over a year ago. I’m sorry. I should’ve called or texted or emailed, but life got in the way. You know how it is.”

  Charlie swallowed hard. “Oh. Was it, like, amicable? You didn’t get married, did you?”

  “No, we didn’t tie the knot. And yes, it was perfectly civil. We still cared for each other, but there was no spark anymore.” Will frowned and ducked his head, tearing at his cuticles. “A lot of it had to do with my job, traveling so much on photo shoots.”

  “I thought you were freelance and could decide your own destinations and schedules?”

  “Yeah, I can, but… in truth I think we both just wanted to get out, you know.” Will raised his head and smiled again. “What about you and, uh… what’s his name? Or was it a her this time around?”

  Charlie chuckled. “Nah, Heather came before Dayton. And we broke up too, like, nine or ten months back. He thought a guy in his twenties, like me, should get out more. If you recall, I don’t mind party-hardy. But keeping up with a twenty-one-year-old was just too straining.”

  “Yeah.” Will’s soft look radiated empathy. He snickered a little, an awkward tone buried in the back of his voice. “So we’re both single, then?”

  Charlie released an anxious breath he’d been holding. So Will did remember their pact. “Yeah, guess we are.” He refused to let his best friend off the hook now that he knew what those frissons of pleasure before and now meant. “I’m tired of playing the field. I know what I want.”

  Will gulped so hard his Adam’s apple bobbed. He blinked nervously. “And what’s that?”

  “You.” Charlie leaned forward and rested a hand over Will’s trembling knee. “You, Will. I’m tired of not being with you. Over the past decade, I’ve thought about you and us a lot. Every time we’ve met, one of us has been in a relationship. But… I never stopped loving you.”

  Will leaned in as well, his skin paling but his eyes burning with a feverish glow. “Back on the train ten years ago you told me you loved me like a friend but not like a lover or—”

  “Yeah, I remember.”

  So that was Will’s problem, Charlie mused, finally on the same page. Will was still hung up on Charlie’s words from before. Was that the reason he’d not said anything sooner? Because Charlie surmised that Will’s invitation came from the same source as Charlie’s acceptance. They were both dancing around the truth of what they wanted and yearned for but never said out loud.

  Charlie was frustrated and prayed he’d find the right words to show his best friend how he really felt. “I… I guess I was scared to admit I might like you. Plus, at the time, I don’t think I would have had the courage to act on those emotions anyway. I still had too many issues to resolve.”

  Will smiled in encouragement. “And now you’re an out-and-proud bi man. That’s so great. I’m really happy for you.”

  Charlie nodded, not sure how to take the comment. It sure didn’t sound like a declaration of undying love. “I know it’s been a long time. We haven’t seen each other in over a year. But I just wanted you to know that I love you. It’s okay if you don’t love me back.” He grunted. “Even if we made that silly pact. We were kids. It doesn’t matter, I guess.”

  Will closed the gap between them, placed a soft kiss over Charlie’s lips, and grinned. “Is that your gracious way of letting me off the hook? What if I don’t want you to?” Before Charlie could retort, Will grew serious. “I don’t think either of us was ready back then. But you and I, we keep gravitating back to each other. You’ve always been there for me, without hesitation, and I for you, I hope.” His smile faded a little, turning uncertain. “I love you too, Charlie.”

  Yet Will was frowning. Charlie understood because he was pretty sure he felt the same. “Our relationship was never one of fiery passion or searing need, was it?” Will nodded, his relief stark and obvious. Charlie carried on slowly, “Ours is a sort of satisfied type of love, isn’t it? Us belonging together. Friends, lovers, everything. Simple as that.”

  Will closed his eyes and exhaled deep. “Yes. Exactly that.” He took Charlie’s hands in his. “I’m ready to just be with you, in every way possible, with everything that entails. You?”

  “Same.” Charlie captured Will’s mouth, tilting his head and deepening the kiss. By the time they parted, both men were breathless. “Okay, perhaps there’s always been… a spark.”

  Will quirked an eyebrow and grinned wide. “Undeniable heat, definitely.” He glanced out the window as if to check where they were. Charlie observed they’d left DC and traveled through rural areas. “It’s not bedtime yet and the beds haven’t been turned down, but—”

  “Way ahead of you, babe,” Charlie cut in, having already jumped to his feet and begun to yank off his clothes, blindly tossing them haphazardly on the seat, on the floor, wherever.

  Will laughed but followed suit, his actions equally rushed and excited. Soon neither man had on more than their underwear. They came crashing together, their lips fusing, their bodies pressing together tight, their touches urgent, their skin flushed.

  They fell onto the seat, Will on top of Charlie. Charlie’s head banged against the armrest, but he ignored the throbbing pain that soon subsided in the wake of pleasure. He had his hands and mouth full of Will. It was a dream come true. Will straddled his hips and ground his erection against Charlie. They moaned in unison into the fervent kiss, sharing humid breaths and tastes of morning coffee.

  When Charlie slipped his hands beneath the waistband of Will’s black boxer briefs and shamelessly fondled Will’s firm, bouncy backside, he understood that despite them still being on a moving train, he’d come home.

  More from Susan Laine

  A Before… and After Story

  Romance novels always end with a happy ever after. Right?

  Evan and Adam are best friends, but they don’t know everything about each other. For one thing, Adam doesn’t know Evan writes and publishes gay romance novels until he discovers one while snooping on Evan’s laptop.

  This revelation changes their relationship in ways neither could’ve imagined. Adam’s reaction to reading Evan’s stories is not what he expected, nor is the new way he’s looking at his lifelong pal. After all, Adam is straight, or so he’s always thought, and that is what Evan believes about Adam as well.

  When Evan admits he might be bisexual, Adam suggests he try dating girls to find out for sure, but when Evan follows his advice, Adam is caught off guard by his feelings of jealousy. And when the date proves Evan isn’t bisexual, but gay, Evan’s request that Adam find him a guy might be the last straw.

  How can Adam admit he wants that guy to be him? His epiphany will either end their relationship—or change it into something wonderful in their very own friends-to-lovers romance.

  A Before… and After Story

  A kiss is just a kiss. It doesn’t have to mean anything. Does it?

  At seventeen, Merry’s never been kissed. Since he doesn’t want to disappoint his prom date, he asks his more experienced best friend, Boone, for some pointers. Surprisingly, Boone agrees to give him a hands-on lesson.

  But they have no idea what they’re getting into.


  They explore hundreds of ways to make out, but somehow it isn’t enough. A week later, they’re back together for another session. This time things go further than either of them planned, and their relationship becomes awkward and uncomfortable.

  Have they learned enough to salvage their friendship and help it evolve? Their lessons have come to an end. They can either part ways forever… or share a true love’s kiss.

  Sam, a geeky college freshman, has bigger problems than lusting after Marcus, sexy jock, college junior, and his big brother’s best friend. Chasing after a beanie caught in the winter wind turns into a tumble down the rabbit hole for them both—science fiction style.

  Sam and Marcus find themselves trapped on a tropical island in the middle of a strange ocean on an alien moon. The sole structure is a ruined temple devoted to the art of love. Flustered, confused, and unable to return home, they need to figure out a means of escape from a hostile jungle teeming with dangerous life-forms.

  In this tale where opposites attract and secret crushes are revealed, two very dissimilar young men discover they actually have a lot in common after all, but it will take their differences as much as their points of connection to survive on an island in the stars.

  The Wheel Mysteries: Book One

  Magic is in the air when Gus Goodwin, a pagan shopkeeper and owner of the Four Corners’ occult shop, meets a Niall Valentine, a mysterious PI investigating the disappearance of a local witch named Joy. What starts out as harmless flirting and information gathering soon turns into a partnership, with both men determined to solve the case.

  Then bodies begin to pile up. Someone is using fire and water to kill witches associated with Joy, and it is up to Niall and Gus to find out what’s going on. But when their friendship blossoms into something else, the unknown dangers looming ahead become even more frightening. If they can’t solve the murders soon, they’re going to get themselves killed.

  Heroes at Heart: Book One

  Yancy Bell was bullied in high school for being a yellowbelly, not because of any cowardice, but because of his nervous bladder condition. It’s Yancy’s first year in college, and he’s hoping to make a fresh start.

  Three days before Christmas, the campus is empty. Having to pee on a midwinter night leads Yancy to meet Curt Donovan huddled in a dark shower stall. Curt’s a troubled jock whose coming out went badly, so he plans to end it all.

  But Yancy adamantly refuses to let Curt go through with his irrevocable plan. With just one dark night to talk Curt around, Yancy has to win the trust of a stranger who only sees one way out.

  SUSAN LAINE, an award-winning, multipublished author of LGBTQ erotic romance and a Finnish native, was raised by the best mother in the world, who told her daughter that she could be whatever she wanted to be. The spark for serious writing and publishing kindled when Susan discovered the gay erotic romance genre. One of her books, Monsters Under the Bed, won the 2014 Rainbow Award for Best Gay Paranormal Romance.

  Though she was trained as an anthropologist, Susan’s long-term plan is to become a full-time writer. Susan enjoys hanging out with her sister, two nieces, mother, and friends in movie theaters, bookstores, and parks. Her favorite pastimes include pop music, action flicks, and doing the dishes while pondering the meaning of life, while a few of her dislikes are sweating hot summer days, tobacco smoke, and purposeful prejudice.

  Website: www.susan-laine-author.fi

  Email: [email protected]

  Newsletter: us3.campaign-archive1.com/home/?u=e35b161ef419de2a024b5de9c&id=c5cc358074

  By Susan Laine

  Falling for Rain

  Flushed

  Haunted Heart

  An Island in the Stars

  Sage Advice

  Sauna Lover

  The Sensualist & the Untouched

  The Witching Hour

  BEFORE… AND AFTER

  After the Romance Novel

  Kissing Lessons

  Train to Somewhere

  HEROES AT HEART

  Yellowbelly Hero

  Yellow Streak

  Code Yellow

  Good as Gold

  ISLESHIRE CHRONICLES

  Lofty Dreams of Earthbound Men

  Wishing Wings

  LIFTING THE VEIL

  The Wolfing Way

  Genie’s Wish

  Hunter’s Moon

  Monsters Under the Bed

  Love of the Wild

  Stealing Dragon’s Heart

  SECOND CHANCES

  Accidental Chemistry

  Twice by Chance

  SENSES AND SENSATIONS

  Love in Plain Sight

  A Luminous Touch

  Sensible Commitments

  Sounds of Love

  The Sweetest Scent

  THE WHEEL MYSTERIES

  Sparks & Drops

  Devil’s Own

  Fireworks & Wild Cards

  The Disciple

  The Wheel Mysteries: Books 1 & 2 (Print Only Anthology)

  Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS

  www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  Published by

  DREAMSPINNER PRESS

  5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA

  www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Train to Somewhere

  © 2017 Susan Laine.

  Cover Art

  © 2017 AngstyG.

  www.angstyg.com

  Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.

  All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.

  Digital ISBN: 978-1-63533-993-2

  Published October 2017

  v. 1.0

  Printed in the United States of America