Laurie Parkinson, who’s lived in Laurel Hills all his life, is a gay sheet metal worker who’d rather be a gay hairdresser. Wheat Dupuis, who’s also gay, is the scion of one of Laurel Hill’s wealthiest families. He’d rather grow grapes than become CFO of Dupuis International. Laurie wakes one morning to discover his family gone and his town decimated by a bacteria that has lain dormant for millennia, incased in ice. With the melting of the ice caps, the bacteria is released, and mankind faces a pandemic that could surpass the Black Plague. Wheat and his family are on their way to safety when the unthinkable happens and he’s left behind. Laurie knows of a bunker in the woods outside Laurel Hill, where he intends to take refuge. On the way there, Laurie finds and rescues Wheat. Can two such dissimilar men work together through a pandemic to find their families ... and possibly find love, as well?

Pandemic

Did he have a summer version of the flu? Had he gotten food poisoning from something he’d eaten? Why was he still dressed? God, grungy wasn’t the word for how he felt.


He flushed the toilet and opened the medicine chest. His hand froze as he reached for the bottle of mouthwash. It wasn’t the brand he usually used, but it was the brand Lync bought. Everything came back to him—losing another job, getting drunk as a skunk, walking to Lync’s apartment to sleep it off.


Lync must have been so pissed to find Laurie in his bed. He was probably asleep on the couch in the living room. Laurie owed him such an apology.


Well, no point in dilly dallying. He rinsed his mouth and stared bleakly into the mirror at his bloodshot eyes, then shook his head. He winced at the stabbing pain that resulted from that dumb move.


Useless, dude. You are so fucking useless


He straightened his shoulders and took a couple of ibuprofen, then made his way to the living room to face the music.


Chapter 6