After the HEA is a collection of five gay romance stories about what happens after our couples walk hand in hand into the sunset. Stories about breakups, health scares, hiding in the closet, and infidelity, but mostly about fighting for happiness. Real, lingering happiness.
Contains the stories:
Team Luker: Uncertainty keeps Ellery Luker awake at night and robs him of his appetite. It’s been five days since Jools, the love of his life and partner of twenty-five years, went to the doctor. Five days since the biopsy. Five days of going crazy with worry and what ifs? What if Jools suffer from the same disease that stole Ellery’s mother when he was just eleven? What if all Ellery’s worst fears come true?
Late Night Poetry: Saying “I love you” to someone who says it first, isn’t supposed to lead to a break-up, but that happens to Sully and Lou. Sully is out while Lou is in the closet, so when their relationship deepens, Lou runs. But then Lou starts quoting poetry and leaving emotional messages of remorse on Sully’s answering machine. Can love poems and honesty help Sully and Lou find their way back to each other?
Regaining Trust: When Lawrence walks in on the aftermath of his fiancé Frankie cheating on him, he’s shattered. Frankie’s the love of his life, the betrayal leaves him devastated. Frankie makes a huge mistake he regrets deeply before it’s over. He pleads for a second chance, willing to do anything. A love that deep doesn’t just stop, so Lawrence agrees to try. Will love be enough? Can trust once broken be rebuilt?
So Far Away: Engaged couple Zakarias and Julian are convinced nothing can separate them…until a global pandemic hits. Zakarias catches the virus with mild symptoms and isolates in the couple’s guest house. The few meters dividing them might as well be the moon as he watches Julian, an ICU nurse, work himself to the bone. Worry build as the weeks pass. Will Zakarias be declared healthy before Julian burns out?
All I'll Ever See: The night Kieran bangs on Theo’s door and kisses him changes both their lives forever. Theo has never been in the closet, but Kieran isn’t out and risks losing everything should his family find out. They keep their budding relationship a secret, but can their love grow and flourish when hidden away in the dark? Or will it wilt and die before they have a chance to live happily ever after?
EXCERPT FROM "Team Luker"
I can’t live without you, my brain screams in panic, but I bite down the words, lock them away in the back of my mind. I need to be strong for him -- I can’t crumble at his feet when it’s he who has the health issues -- but at the moment, I don’t know how.
Not saying the words out loud doesn’t help; he can read me even in darkness. Even when I don’t say a word and with my back turned to him.
“And if it is what we fear, Ellery, I fight. I fight like hell, because I’m not leaving you, you hear?”
I nod, uncertain that I’ll be able to keep the panic out of my voice.
He presses a kiss to my nape. “I need you. You’re my rock. My strength. I can’t do this alone.” The raspiness -- the worry? -- in his voice prompts me to speak.
“We’re a team,” I say, proud that my voice isn’t cracking. “We’ll always be a team.”
“Go Team Luker!” His exclamation coaxes a smile from me, like he knew it would. He peppers more kisses at my nape. Featherlight and soft, until a shiver racks my body. He hums, his chest vibrating against my back, and he rubs his leg against mine.
Being surrounded by him makes me feel safe and cherished, and it loosens my tongue. “I can’t lose you, Jools. I can’t.” It’s a trembling whisper but I’m sure he can hear me in the otherwise silent room. “Not now that I finally get to call you my husband. Not ever. We’re supposed to grow old and gray together. We’re supposed to live happily ever after. I can’t ... I can’t ...” I bite down on my tongue to stop the frantic blabbering. He doesn’t need this from me.
Be strong, Ellery. At least try.
“Hey.” He rolls me onto my back, climb on top of me and straddles my thighs. Leaning forward, he cups my face with warm, caring palms, and he rests his forehead against mine. “I’m not leaving you. I’m not.”
I throw my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist and cling to him like a monkey. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry ...”
He cuts me off with a kiss; his full lips against mine, his hands on my face, and his groin pushing into mine curl my toes and take the edge off the piercing worry. When his tongue begs to be let into my mouth, I gasp, and he slips inside. He’s licking the roof of my mouth, curling his tongue around mine. Devouring me, loving me. Distracting me from my panicked thoughts.
I slacken under him as he rubs his chest and stomach against me, using his entire body to tell me how much I mean to him. Trying to reassure me.
Do you think I want to leave you? his movements say. You’re mine as much as I’m yours, his lips say as he brushes them against my skin. I’ll fight to my last breath to stay with you, his caressing fingers say.
Jools is eloquent and well-spoken, but we communicate best skin to skin. Body to body.
Breath to breath.
