Thirst Trap
by Zachary Ryan
Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance
Tragedy comes in all forms, and you never know how you’ll 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 boyfriend’s 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. “Is everything okay?” I asked.
Ivan looked up and smiled. “Yeah. 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.” I was taken aback by that comment. I figured Jay would want him home
asap. “So, you guys are good?” “I think we’re finally on the same page. I see
Jesse is himself again, and I think I saw a smile come out on Leo’s face,” he
said. “Maybe we’ve figured it all out.
We’ve gotten through the rough parts of our lives,” 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. “Let’s go
to the beach.” “Bitch, it’s five in the morning. I want to go to sleep and a
get a slice of pizza,” Leo said. I could
see the sun was already coming up. “Come on. It’s my birthday. Let’s go,” I
said. I grabbed Leo’s hand and started pulling him toward the beach. “If I wake up with sand everywhere, you’re
coming over to clean the shit up, hooker,” 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 hadn’t 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. “You’re
getting home late,” he said, walking over to me. He grabbed me by the arm and
crushed his lips with mine. “I can taste the wine on your lips,” he added, when
he broke the kiss. He walked away from me.
“Sorry,” I said. “I don’t see what the big issue is.” Jay picked up his book, before turning back
to me. “Because, you shouldn’t be coming home well past midnight hammered.”
“I’m an adult.” “And I pay for everything in this god damn household. You want
to go off and become a personal trainer.” I looked down because I knew Jay was
in one of his moods. I knew he didn’t 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 couldn’t trust me. “You knew I was with my friends.” “The slut, the drunk,
the judgmental bitch, and then there’s you-- the victim. Yeah, some friends you
have.” “You liked them when we first started dating,” I argued. Jay and I had
been dating for a little over two years now. I’ve known Jesse and Leo for
several years now, while Dillon had come into the group last year. “When I met them, they weren’t such fucking
messes. Jesse, I actually enjoyed the most because of his boyfriend.”
“But he’s gone now,” I
said. “Jesse is still trying to process the pain. You can’t hate him for that,”
I argued. I wanted to defend my friends. “You don’t have to be an ass about
it.” 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. “I have no problem with
grief. We’ve all had our fair share of it. I was there to help Jesse out when
Ian died.” “Just because you flipped the bill for the dinner after the funeral,
doesn’t mean you helped him out.” “I don’t do well with drunk people.” I looked
at him. Jay’s father was an alcoholic and a violent man. I understand why he
was against drinking, but it shouldn’t have hindered his relationship with my
friends. “My friends aren’t drunks.” “I think it’s because you guys became
friends with Dillon. You guys might be in your early twenties, but he still has
an innocence in him. You’re trying to find your youth through him, but you
should be getting your shit together,” he said.
The kiss led to the clothes being taken off, which led to us
fucking our brains out on the kitchen counter. We hadn’t been that intimate in
a long time. I grabbed my shirt, and I knew that this moment we had didn’t
change what was going on. “Will, I know
you still love me, but why are you on those apps?” He grabbed his shirt and put
it on also. He sighed heavily. “I feel like we have no excitement in our
lives,” he said. “I look at our friends and they’re out there living their
lives. We’re at home reading books, cooking dinner, giving each other half-ass
blowjobs.” “I can make sure to put all my effort in my next blow job, if you
want,” I said. “I don’t want to miss out
on our life.” “You know, most people would be lucky to have what we have,” I
said. “You think that I don’t know that?
It’s 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,” he said. “I’m not having an open relationship,” I
said. I knew that people did it, and I respect that for them. I didn’t have the
confidence or trust in my partner to go out there and sleep around. “I don’t
think either of us could do one of those types of relationships, anyway.”
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 status—and learned that it’s perfectly normal to spend your twenties feeling lost and confused.
After a disastrous sexual encounter, Ryan stumbled on a group of true friends, or “soul cluster,” that he connected with. Through his writing, he hopes to help other broken souls out there find comfort amid the chaos.
Signed copies of Thirst Trap + the High School Queens Trilogy
Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!
#BookTour #Giveaway
#thrirsttrap #mm #contempoary #romance #zacharyryan
#thrirsttrap #mm #contempoary #romance #zacharyryan
Comments
Post a Comment