Page 15 of I Do, or Dye Trying
“Oh,” I said. “Is Kyle truly okay with Gabe and me or is he pretending?”
“He’s honestly fine with it. He mentioned that he and his ex just weren’t meant to be, but he hoped to find a love like his ex-boyfriend found someday. See, you and Gabe have become our relationship goals,” Chaz said. I scoffed at him, but Meredith nodded that he was right.
“Okay, so you were playing games and chatting up Dr. Dimples. Why then were you saying that the guy he was looking for wasn’t you? Why pretend you weren’t the one he was spending time with?” I asked.
“Yeah, what he asked,” Mere said with a nod. “You outright lied to us. Why?”
“I created a fake account and pretended to be someone I wasn’t for research purposes so in essence he wasn’t chatting and falling forme.He fell for fake me,” Chaz said. “Damn, it hurts too.” He rubbed his hand over his heart as if that could ease the pain he felt. “To entertain the thought that someone like him could fall for someone like me was… Let’s just say it was cruel.”
“Honey, I think you’re being unjustly hard on yourself here. What parts about you did you make up?” she asked.
“Age and career,” Chaz answered. “Hobbies too.”
“Okay, but we’ve seen Kyle interact with the real you. He doesn’t have any problem with your career—well, the one he knows about anyway—or your age. You both clearly have the same taste in television shows and video games,” I told Chaz.
“Yeah,” Chaz said softly. “I just don’t see it working out for us long term. I wish I had the confidence that the two of you have, but I don’t.” He looked down at his feet for several long moments so he didn’t see Mere and I exchange scheming glances. “Anyway, who wants to hear about my book?”
“Me!” Mere and I both chimed in, our matchmaking thoughts put temporarily on hold.
“When can we read it?” I asked.
“How long did it take you to write it?” Mere questioned.
We peppered him with several more questions before he could even answer the first ones. Finally, he stopped trying. He just stood in my kitchen and shook with laughter over our excitement for him. Once we’d run out of breath, he said, “It was something I’ve always wanted to do. I wrote fan fiction short stories about a boy band we all loved in junior high but never shared them with anyone. One night last year, I just decided to write a damn book. I never expected to finish it, let alone publish it.”
“Publish it?” Meredith and I asked at the same time.
“You mean it’s already done and published?” Mere questioned.
“And you’re just now telling us about it? Why wouldn’t you let us read it first?” I asked Chaz.
“I thought I was going to be laughed at when I released the book and I didn’t want you to know my humiliation,” Chaz told us.
“Honey, we’re best friends. Your humiliation is our humiliation,” Mere said tenderly. “Wait, that didn’t sound right, did it?” Chaz and I shook our heads. “You know what I mean. We’re here for you for the long haul, not just for the giggles and good times. So what happened when you published your book?”
“It became a best seller,” Chaz said giddily. “I still can’t believe it. Now people are emailing me and asking when the next book will be and how many there will be in the series. Can you believe that people want to read something thatIwrote?”
I crossed my arms over my chest, still peeved that I hadn’t had inside information on this. Hell, I was besties with a best-selling author and didn’t even know it! “Well, it’s hard to say since I haven’t read anything you’ve written,” I said.
“Oh, but you have,” Chaz said with a wicked smile.
“What? I haven’t read a book since…” Then it hit me! Sally Ann had come into the salon for a trim and told us all about the hot new gay romance book she was reading. Chaz had choked and coughed, but I thought he had just swallowed his drink down wrong or something.
“You’re C.B. Hesterson,” I said. Chaz smiled when it sounded like an accusation. “C.B. stands for Charles Bailey and Hesterson is your mother’s maiden name.”
“Yep, that’s me,” he said proudly.
“Chaz, that’s so amazing. All Josh talked about for days was that book,” Meredith said. “I meant to buy it, but I’ve been busy.”
“I just bet,” Chaz said with a lecherous wink. “You don’t have time to be reading romance when you’re making your own.”
“That’s what you think, doll face,” Meredith said, as she whipped out her phone and started typing. “I’m going to start this baby, tonight.”
“Thank you,” Chaz said to Meredith then looked at me. “Back to your business proposal, Jazz. I will gladly help you manage the salon for now while you expand your business, but there could come a time where I want to work part time or maybe even focus on writing full time if things work out for me the way I hope they do.”
“Sweetie, that would be amazing,” I said, going to him for a hug. “I’ll take whatever you can give me, and I promise to be supportive when you need to focus on your writing or even if you leave me altogether. Just promise me that you’ll never miss a Sunday dinner.”
“That’s a promise I can easily keep,” he told me.