Thirst Trap
by Zachary Ryan
Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance
Tragedy comes in all forms, and you never know how youāll deal with it. Four friends have all dealt with their fair share of struggles. Dillion, an aspiring writer with writers block because of his brothers sudden death, Jesse the emotional stunted drink thanks to his boyfriendās suicide, Ivan the abused victim just looking for a place to call home, and Leo the stubborn romantic trying to get his friends to open up, while keeping his issues close to his chest.
With these four friends, they avoid all their elephants in the room like a death card agreement between Dillion and Jesse, Ivan completely hoping his abusive lover with change or even Leo focusing on his friends problems instead of his own. Can these four friends learn to embrace and accept their own tragedy or will they be stuck in the past?
Thirst Trap is a humorous coming of age novel dealing with sexuality, tragedy,substance abuse, and the most beautiful insane friendships.
99
Dillion
We took a couple more shots before heading to another bar to
end our night. Jesse and Leo were outside smoking when I saw that Ivan was
texting Jay. āIs everything okay?ā I asked.
Ivan looked up and smiled. āYeah. Jay just wanted to tell me to have a
good night, and he put some water and aspirin out for me for my hangover in the
morning.ā I was taken aback by that comment. I figured Jay would want him home
asap. āSo, you guys are good?ā āI think weāre finally on the same page. I see
Jesse is himself again, and I think I saw a smile come out on Leoās face,ā he
said. āMaybe weāve figured it all out.
Weāve gotten through the rough parts of our lives,ā I said. We were all
starting to place the groundwork for our future. We might have had some bumps,
but it was smooth sailing from here.
Jesse and Leo came back in from outside. We continued to have a couple
more shots before the bar closed up. We stumbled outside and I wanted nothing
more than to go to the beach. We were only a couple blocks from it. āLetās go
to the beach.ā āBitch, itās five in the morning. I want to go to sleep and a
get a slice of pizza,ā Leo said. I could
see the sun was already coming up. āCome on. Itās my birthday. Letās go,ā I
said. I grabbed Leoās hand and started pulling him toward the beach. āIf I wake up with sand everywhere, youāre
coming over to clean the shit up, hooker,ā Leo said. We got to the beach and took a seat in the
sand. It was an early spring morning. We were chilly, but we started to see the
sunrise from its slumber. We watched as the colors dance across the sky, and it
was the birth of a new day, a new page, and a new chapter. We were turning our
pages to something hopeful. We all looked at that sunset trying to find solace
in our lives. We were drunks, bitches, fuck ups, and completely lost with
ourselves, but right then, I had never felt more like I belonged in that moment
with these three beautiful souls.
Ivan
I hoped that Jay was asleep when I stumbled into the
apartment. I hadnāt expected to drink that much wine with Leo. I turned the
corner, and Jay was on the couch reading a book. He looked cute with his
glasses on. He looked at me with anger in his eyes. He stood up, and was taller
than me. I was more muscular than him, but he was toned. I knew dating someone
older than me would have disadvantages. He had just gotten back from vacation
with his parents, so his skin was darker, and I noticed his gray hair poking
out of his dark hair, more. āYouāre
getting home late,ā he said, walking over to me. He grabbed me by the arm and
crushed his lips with mine. āI can taste the wine on your lips,ā he added, when
he broke the kiss. He walked away from me.
āSorry,ā I said. āI donāt see what the big issue is.ā Jay picked up his book, before turning back
to me. āBecause, you shouldnāt be coming home well past midnight hammered.ā
āIām an adult.ā āAnd I pay for everything in this god damn household. You want
to go off and become a personal trainer.ā I looked down because I knew Jay was
in one of his moods. I knew he didnāt like me being out at all hours of the
night. He thought I would be out sleeping with other people, and I hated that
he couldnāt trust me. āYou knew I was with my friends.ā āThe slut, the drunk,
the judgmental bitch, and then thereās you-- the victim. Yeah, some friends you
have.ā āYou liked them when we first started dating,ā I argued. Jay and I had
been dating for a little over two years now. Iāve known Jesse and Leo for
several years now, while Dillon had come into the group last year. āWhen I met them, they werenāt such fucking
messes. Jesse, I actually enjoyed the most because of his boyfriend.ā
āBut heās gone now,ā I
said. āJesse is still trying to process the pain. You canāt hate him for that,ā
I argued. I wanted to defend my friends. āYou donāt have to be an ass about
it.ā Jay stormed toward me. He slammed me against the wall. I tried to move,
but he was using all of his strength to hold me down. āI have no problem with
grief. Weāve all had our fair share of it. I was there to help Jesse out when
Ian died.ā āJust because you flipped the bill for the dinner after the funeral,
doesnāt mean you helped him out.ā āI donāt do well with drunk people.ā I looked
at him. Jayās father was an alcoholic and a violent man. I understand why he
was against drinking, but it shouldnāt have hindered his relationship with my
friends. āMy friends arenāt drunks.ā āI think itās because you guys became
friends with Dillon. You guys might be in your early twenties, but he still has
an innocence in him. Youāre trying to find your youth through him, but you
should be getting your shit together,ā he said.
The kiss led to the clothes being taken off, which led to us
fucking our brains out on the kitchen counter. We hadnāt been that intimate in
a long time. I grabbed my shirt, and I knew that this moment we had didnāt
change what was going on. āWill, I know
you still love me, but why are you on those apps?ā He grabbed his shirt and put
it on also. He sighed heavily. āI feel like we have no excitement in our
lives,ā he said. āI look at our friends and theyāre out there living their
lives. Weāre at home reading books, cooking dinner, giving each other half-ass
blowjobs.ā āI can make sure to put all my effort in my next blow job, if you
want,ā I said. āI donāt want to miss out
on our life.ā āYou know, most people would be lucky to have what we have,ā I
said. āYou think that I donāt know that?
Itās all a bunch of fucking emotions coursing through my mind and heart right
now. I want to stay with you, but I want out sometimes,ā he said. āIām not having an open relationship,ā I
said. I knew that people did it, and I respect that for them. I didnāt have the
confidence or trust in my partner to go out there and sleep around. āI donāt
think either of us could do one of those types of relationships, anyway.ā
Zachary Ryan grew up in a black-and-white box in Maryland, before moving to Chicago to start a new life. There, he found that he was accepted for his misfit statusāand learned that itās perfectly normal to spend your twenties feeling lost and confused.
After a disastrous sexual encounter, Ryan stumbled on a group of true friends, or āsoul cluster,ā that he connected with. Through his writing, he hopes to help other broken souls out there find comfort amid the chaos.
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