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

Not that it would be anything like fair to Chris to foist myself on him now. If anything, Josh’s death had fed my obsession with him. Chris has been unwavering in his friendship from the very beginning, but I had been much more fickle, relying on him for entertainment when I had spare time, but focusing the bulk of my energy elsewhere. If he really wanted to get back together with his ex in Arizona, I would wish them happiness. I hadn’t been able to see the benefits of an actual, gay boyfriend, and chasing after a straight guy had brought me pain and heartache just like everyone said it would, so I was going to wallow in that, thank you very much. Chris had been there for me to lean on in the hospital and at Josh’s funeral, and he had known exactly what I needed last night, perhaps better even than I had, providing it willingly and without question. I would be lucky to have a guy like him. And he deserved far better than a guy like me.


Chapter 90