SUBLET – Part 1
Love in Lockdown is a unique series of love stories written as a way to stave off some of the stress due to the lockdowns and isolation.
Steven and Mariah were once lovers, but working in professional theater doesn’t make a love affair easy, or even possible for many who find themselves all over the world on tours. Working on a stage show in New York City, Steven sublets Mariah’s barely-big-enough-for-one apartment. What are they to do when her world tour shuts down as well as his show?
They can’t go anywhere else, so they’ll just have to stay together.
Published in short story sized sections, Sublet will give you a love story in several acts and hopefully leave you calling for an encore at the end!
Read an Excerpt
He was barely awake when he felt the bed beside him shift. His mind tipped ass-over-teakettle as he struggled to remember why there was someone else in his bed.
He wasn’t the kind to bring a random woman home from a bar, and he certainly wasn’t going to bring someone home from the show. Years ago, he’d learned his lesson about dating someone in the company.
In fact, he was still half in love with her, and that was his problem.
Boy, was it his problem.
Steven drew in a long, deep breath and felt his chest tighten.
Lilacs.
Fucking lilacs.
The scent alone was enough to get him half-hard. He’d made the mistake of grabbing a bottle from underneath the sink when he’d forgotten to pick up soap at the corner store and had ended up jacking off in the shower twice before he’d gotten himself exhausted enough to sleep.
He cracked open an eye to take in his surroundings. Sun peeped in from around the far edge of the blackout curtains in her apartment window, a feature he’d appreciated when he’d moved in. Theater folks worked into the wee hours of the morning and slept like vampires on most days.
Still, that wasn’t enough to explain why that smell was in his nose.
“You’re so warm…”
The soft sounds of a woman’s voice tried to pull him back into slumber, but the arm that snaked around his middle had him wide awake. The way her fingers snuggled their way between the waistband of his slacks and his shirt until the tip of a finger brushed against his bare flesh…
That he could take.