One
kiss tore them apart. Will a second bring them back together?
Knox Townsend can hardly believe it when he walks into Playgroundz Café to find
his old high school crush, Trevor Channing, working the cash register. Once
upon a time, the two shared a smoldering, passionate kiss while their prom
dates were passed out... and never spoke of it again. Now Knox is back in town
for the next week to upgrade the café’s coffee machines. But the only thing he
really wants to upgrade are his feelings for Trevor, long simmering and now
reignited. This time, hopefully for good!
Trevor hasn’t seen Knox since he left town right after graduation without so
much as a backward glance. Suddenly he’s Trevor’s boss and staying at the same
hotel where they’d shared their first, and only, kiss. One of the front desk
clerks is Trevor’s regular customer and, for a few gift cards, Trevor checks
into the room next door to Knox’s. The room with the adjoining doors he plans
to keep unlocked all week, just in case!
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Knox slid close, if only to breathe in Trevor’s vaguely innocent scent and feel the heat wafting from his lean, tempting body. “You know what I have in mind, tease.”
“Listen, let’s not rush things,” Trevor chuckled wryly, enjoying his time in the cat bird seat. “I mean, you’re here all week, right?”
They stood halfway between the sushi bar and the hotel lobby, Trevor’s Jeep—at least, Knox assumed it was his Jeep, owing to the half dozen Playgroundz Café stickers littering the bumper—the only car left in the otherwise empty parking lot. “Fine, sure, if you’re playing hard to get or whatever, I get it, but you’ve still had, like, three carafes of sake, so… why not stay the night and drive in tomorrow when you’re good and sober, you know?”
“Hmmm, tempting,” Trevor teased, digging his hands in the front pockets of his faded salmon cargo shorts while gently drifting from foot to foot in the empty parking lot. “Even if I’ve only had two carafes and I could probably, maybe, kinda drive tonight.”
“Why risk it, old pal?” Knox murmured, clutching a handful of Trevor’s casual sea foam T-shirt in his grip and tugging him toward the stairwell that led to his room on the second floor. “Besides, second chances, right?”
Trevor rolled his eyes even as he followed dutifully. “Good thing the old Seaside Inn still has two queen size beds in every room,” he muttered, still playing coy even as Knox found it harder and harder to walk with every step toward the possibility of another dreamy kiss with his first, and most powerful, boy crush.
“Jesus, Trev, when did you become such a prude?”
“Hmmmmm, not sure,” Trevor mused as he drifted up the steps a pace or two in front of Knox. “Maybe the day you left town without a second glance, let alone another word. Probably then, Knox, is when I became such a prude.”
Trevor stood on the second-floor landing, turning slightly to make room for Knox. They stood, face to face, nearly the same height, and Trevor’s full lips, glossy and thick, aglow beneath the dim light just above. “This feels weird, right?”
Knox snorted, dragging the old school hotel room keychain from his pocket, the key dangling from the vaguely Christmas tree shaped plastic that still had the room number printed under the faded Seaside Inn logo: 224.
“Which part?” He drifted down the hallway toward his room, the air warm and soft on their skin as Knox slowly followed. “Me showing up in your café this morning? Me being your boss? Me being in town? Me drinking too much sake? Or, oh yeah, me staying in the same hotel where we first, you know…”
They were at his door now. Knox’s heart was pounding, his palms sweaty and hands trembling as he struggled to slither the key into the lock. It finally stumbled in, but they didn’t, the door only partly open as Knox felt Trevor still had more to say before finally coming inside.
“Kissed?” Trevor finished for him. “You can say it, you know? It happened, right? It wasn’t just a dream of mine?”
Knox nodded, voice soft and low to match his confessional gaze. “It happened, Trevor. I wanted it to happen. Wanted it to happen since that first time I saw you in homeroom.” He drifted closer, so close, on the empty walkway. Trevor was leaning back against the wrought iron railing across from the half-open door, as if waiting for something. Knox wasn’t sure what. Maybe even Trevor wasn’t sure what. Both of them, it seemed, were grasping at straws, cocky in ways neither of them truly felt, and shy in others. It felt like starting over, and Knox was as nervous as he’d ever been.
“Phew, okay, because… we never talked about it, you know?”
“I’m tired of talking about it,” Knox grunted, inching closer as he put a hand on either side of Trevor’s along the weathered upstairs railing.
Trevor swallowed. Hard. And loud. Loud enough for Knox to hear. “Me too,” he squeaked, involuntarily licking his lips. “So, what are we gonna do about it?”
Knox leaned gently in, winked and gave Trevor a soft, smooth, aborted kiss. With another wink he stepped back and reached for the doorknob. “Come inside, Trev, and find out.”
Veronica
– ☆☆☆
Work takes Knox back to his hometown and straight in the path of his high
school best friend and crush, Trevor. The attraction they felt is still very
much front and centre now they are adults. While the men are now adults, they
are still only in their early twenties, and I liked that they were still
tentative and a little unsure even though it was clear the attraction was
mutual. I felt like it reflected their experience in life and helped the
romance and sexual tension feel real.
Adjoining Rooms is a sweet short story that is also a little sexy. I
really liked Trevor and Knox and I’m a fan of romance written about everyday
characters living ordinary lives. Adjoining Rooms is just a snippet of
one day in their lives and when it was over, I wanted more. I hope the author
considers giving us another story for Knox and Trevor so we can see more of
their story.
Alex Winters is the pseudonym of a
busy restaurant manager whose curious young staff would love nothing more than
to follow him around the dining room reading his steamiest, most romantic
passages aloud! When not writing romantic holiday stories of various heat
levels, he enjoys long walks with his wife, scary movies and smooth jazz.
Connect with Alex
Winters
Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Website ~ Goodreads
Hosted by
Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided
a free copy of Adjoining Rooms by Alex Winters to read and review.
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