Easy-going Sebastien divides his time between working as a cleaning technician, caring for his widowed father, and running off to the park for soccer practice. Coasting through his existence, he's convinced he doesn't have much going for him.<br><br>That isn’t what his best friend Jack thinks. Quick-witted and passionate, Jack is fascinated by art and history, but the greatest book or painting could never compare to how he feels when he's alone with Sebastien.<br><br>In the last five years, Seb and Jack have shared everything, sometimes even a bed. Yet though their chemistry is smoking hot, Sebastien keeps Jack at a safe distance. But when the two move in together to lower their living expenses, that distance gets smaller and smaller, until Sebastien and Jack are standing so close, they can't see what's right in front of their eyes ... the love of their life.

Auguries of Summer

How could I have notnoticed him working the room?


Now that he was busy taking orders, I stared at his every move with my mouth gaped open.


He was…very effeminate. I heard his high-pitched laugh through the music and my face cooled. Disappointed, I turned away to order another beer.


I wasn’t into gay men who felt the need to put it in everyone’s faces. That little waiter was the type of guy who always attracted too much attention everywhere he went, playing with fire by flaunting his lifestyle, and then complaining when he was victimized.


No, I thought, guzzling down more of my new beer, not for me. Not for me at all. Like my father said: everyone was allowed to love who they loved, but you didn’t have to brag about it. What happened behind closed doors was nobody else’s business.


Guys like that waiter made everyone uneasy with their mannerisms and girlish voices.


Chapter 35