Beijing, Tokyo, Sydney -- these exciting cities are standard fare in the life of flight attendant Todd Eisenbraun, and he chases a romance with sexy-but-straight Josh through them all. Closer to home, a new neighbor in his San Francisco apartment building has a huge crush on Todd. His friends -- Katie, a flight attendant-turned-small appliance repairwoman, and Marzipan Q. Thespian, a man-dangling local philanthropist -- think Todd should at least give Chris a shot. Sure, he’s overweight, but he’s also handsome, a hilarious playwright, and a great cook ... what’s not to love? Todd and Chris become quick friends, but Todd’s idea of the perfect man is skinny and straight, and Chris is decidedly neither. Josh may have a fiancée and a teenaged son, but Todd just knows he’s “the One.” But if Josh is straight, the road to love is not; Todd is jostled by internalized homophobia, body image issues, exotic locales, the glamorous world of sewing machine repair, and a community theater musical salute to the life of Judy Garland before he arrives at the realization that he’s been looking way too hard for something he may have already found.

Kiss Me, Straight

“Yeah…” I allowed, not daring to hope.


“You wanna go back to my room and I’ll give you one?”


Only the fact that I had been immersed in steam and heat for half an hour and every muscle in my body was placid and mushy kept me from putting an eye out at this suggestion, and while Todd, Jr. didn’t snap to attention, Josh definitely had his interest.


“That sounds awesome,” I managed, practically sliding out of my chair.


We took another shower, this one quite nearly cold, then tried to dry off before getting dressed. We were still sweating profusely, impurities spilling out, having been coaxed by the heat, and had to sit for a minute in the relatively cooler air of the locker room to let the perspiring, if not stop, at least subside. 


Chapter 82