What do you do when your boyfriend begins acting strangely, and at the same time, you meet someone his total opposite? Do you start having second thoughts? Jesse Jamison must confront those very questions. After two years of living with his lover Dennis "Denny" Christopoulos, a charming flight attendant, the man starts taking on extra flights, making excuses for not coming home, and receiving private phone calls. During this time, Jesse also meets Nick Warden, a new neighbor. He immediately sees the contrasts between the two men and finds Nick attractive on so many levels. Meanwhile, Denny has growing reservations about his relationship with Jesse, especially once a new man comes into his own life. Yet Denny isn't ready to give up the good thing he has going with Jesse since he isn't sure about the new man's intentions, or his own feelings. Nick also struggles with his growing love for Jesse. While he would like nothing more than to claim Jesse for himself, his integrity prevents him from playing the home-wrecker. His hesitation to step in, however, nearly causes his undoing and a missed opportunity at love. Each man has his own second thoughts. But who will act on them, and what will be the consequences?

Second Thoughts

Jesse sat on the couch. He held the picture of Denny and him in both hands, his elbows on his knees. Shelby was curled up next to him, her head on his lap. He didn’t bother to correct her for being on the furniture. After staring at the two smiling faces, he laid the photo facedown on the cushion, leaned back against the sofa and stroked Shelby’s soft head.


“I’m a gullible fool, Shelby, a class-A gullible fool.”


She raised her head and looked at him with her sad hound eyes. Then she licked his hand.


“No, I am, Shel. I shoulda seen this coming. Shit, I shoulda known before it all started. That’s the kind of guy he is. He picked me up on a flight, for God’s sake. He was so smooth I coulda guessed he was no novice, that he’d probably done it a hundred times before.”


Shelby laid her head back down on his knee with a deep sigh.


Chapter 46