Timothy M.

I finally caught up with this story after you posted chapter 8. I think I initially shied away from reading because jealousy is probably the one human feeling I cannot relate to at all. But so far it has not really been of importance, except for Mike lashing out at the party, so I'm enjoying this well-written love story. However, I wish I hadn't read the prologue, and I'm doing my best to forget about it. I think it gives the story too much of a pessimistic tone. Without it this would be a story about relationship problems due to lack of communication. Mike and David are both making mistakes, but they do love each other and want to be a couple, and indeed they are good together. So I would prefer to be able to hope they can sort things out. Anyway, I found it interesting to read all the reviews before mine and the subtle shifts in opinions about David and Mike. I don't think David is being unreasonable at all. We see his honest reactions and thoughts, including the times he chides himself for maybe getting or doing things wrong. But even if he whines in his own head, he is outwardly supportive of Mike. On the other hand, I certainly don't believe Mike is cheating or ignoring David on purpose. He is simply under huge pressure at work and he won't admit how badly it's affecting his relationship. That's why I think he needed the wake-up call of David's outburst to get his mind set right. I honestly believe Mike wants to give love priority over his career if he has to choose, but so far he hasn't understood the danger. Contrary to most readers I also found Vicky's relationship advice and comments about Rain spot on. David needs to talk about these issues, and without Brady there he's floundering. Vicky is doing her best to guide David through the potential scenarios, which I think is helpfu even if also painful. Even admitting he's attracted to Rain is better than denial; I noticed how it lead to an immediate avowal of his love for Mike, and Vicky's delight in his reaction. She is not trying to stir up trouble, and if she is the one to say the 'bad' stuff, David gets to refute it - which is harder if he's the one painting matters black. Her point about it being a bad sign that David does not know what's going on with Mike's work, I saw as a subtle criticism of David not asking and showing enough concern in the past months (of course he was also dealing with being laid off), and less as her saying Mike is hiding something. And as everyone else have said, her advice of talking with Mike was solid gold. I don't think Rain is deliberately trying to get in between David and Mike. I bet Rain feels lonely and homesick and perhaps a bit trapped in his current relationship, which he doesn't want to give up, since his new circle of friends has come via his girlfriend. He is envious of their relationship as compared to his own shaky one. I bet he's bi and loves to flirt (especially when alcohol has loosened him up), but at first he pays attention to both men in equal measure. If they had been in a good place (which I think he assumed was the case until ch. 8), they would probably have had fun talking about how attractive Rain is and how it's sort of nice to be hit on by a guy like him. They would then have made love and confirmed their mutual affection was better than anything Rain could offer. Instead, David feels upset and guilty about how he reacts to Rain in spite of the fact he has never even entertained the idea of doing anything about it. I noticed he didn't jump on the chance to play racketball with Rain, he has done nothing to follow up on the offer to met to practise Estonian, he likes seeing Mike and Rain bond over comics, and he's uncomfortable with Rain's flirting. If David ever got together with Rain, it would only happen after Mike had killed their love and relationship with distrust and jealousy. You cannot help your feelings (of attraction), but you can decide what to do about it. So far all David's decisions have been focused on how to work things out with Mike and deal with his anxiety. OK, enough for now, I shall endeavor to leave chapter reviews from now on.

I loved that you began and ended the chapter with the same sentence. And that these two men are slowly opening up and being honest about how they feel and like. Such a beautiful day and evening - and it's not over yet.

Fletcher has good observational skills and empathy. He is both clever and kind in taking the first step by phoning Tomas.

Awesome chapter, full of hugs and warm feelings, and I loved the title. The swing game took me back to my own childhood visiting my grandparents on the farm. My cousins and I used to have competitions on who could make the longest jump onto the lawn. Damn miracle we never broke any bones. I loved Jay's observation about the best friend story from Mikey's dad. he's absolutely right and I think any dad who worried about his son being lonely and sad, would rejoice in him getting both a best friend and friends. That was the only sad thing about the grill party, Mickey having to hide it from his parents.

Grattis, min kära svenska vän

My favorite part of this chapter: “Fuck you, Jade,” I huffed as I walked away from the table.

Thanks, Gary, I'm glad you liked it. Eric does indeed seem more mature than Nelson sometimes, and I agree it's personality related. I think Nelson shows his age mentally (intellectually) in the way he can read the relationship of Eric and Rob and the calm confidence he displays in situations where Eric is uncertain. To me Eric is the confident one internally in their relationship, which is where Nelson is still unable to believe his luck in being with the boy he's been in love with for months. Yeah, I finally got to tell the Clayton story and I could also see Jazz sticking up for his friend - although it may have increased the tension too.

So, it was Corey at the door after all. I liked that Jason was wary and only committed to being patient and building a relationship as long as Corey is doing is best to deal with his insecurities and trust issues. I think this includes talking to Drew and admitting his friends were right all along when they said he was holding on to a grudge unfairly. He also needs to tell him mom how important it is for his happiness that she has truly left her husband. She may not stay strong for herself, but I bet she would do it for her son. The fact Corey is finally acknowleding what his problem is was a major step forward and I think now the elephant in the room is no longer ignored and they can talk about it, will take the healing the rest of the way. Not just of Corey but also the hurt he inflicted on Jason. I'm not surprised Pierre was the one to rip Corey out of denial, nor that he gave his relationship with Jase his blessing. Clever of him to make Corey see he has been hating and punishing his father by proxy all these years, just as Drew has been trying to hint. I look forward to seeing Jason and Corey take the next steps, i.e. becoming a couple officially etc.

Thanks, CG, I'm glad you managed to find the chapter and grateful for a review. I think you're right about Pat being impressed by Eugene's cool acknowledgement of his connection to Nelson inspite of him being younger. And Eugene did grab the sudden chance to ask her out, another point in his favor. I hope I can come up with something suitable for the next step, but otherwise I can always re-read some Jay and Miles for inspiration, lol.

However, things were moving at a faster pace than I could handle. I had never been allowed to make my own decisions. I guess that is a perfect description of the way Dorian's friends and GSA associates are treating him.

Finally, someone made a topic, thanks Graeme. Tillykke med fødselsdagen !

Indie Preston Efrain

LOL, I guess another woman would spot that immediately. I'm glad you agree with me on the effect of women on group dynamics. Having worked in a male-dominated place for years it's something I've observed regularly. My female friends tells me that an all-woman work place can be just as bad and needs some men to break up the bitchiness.

But...but Nelson is enjoying the confusion. And Eric is enjoying grabbing Nelson's hair.

Thanks, Parker, that's good to know. This story has helped me improve my dialogue writing skills, and I'm lucky my readers enjoy my experimenting.

Tillykke med fødselsdagen ! Happy waving of Danish birthday flags

It was great to see Henry and Julie have a respectful conversation and appreciating each other's good qualities. Gives me hope they will work well together if Henry gets the job. I liked Paul reconsidering how to talk about Henry to the other players. It would not be helpful to Julie if there was any suspicion she had used her brother to 'poison' the minds of the players against Henry. In fact, if some from the board overhears some of the players saying Paul has told them Julie thought well of Henry, if might make them reconsider their 'worry.' I assume they've already asked her whether she would stay on as assistant coach. Has Will had a chance to meet Henry and what does he think of him? BTW We haven't really heard anything aout Will's wife and her silly jealousy of Julie since book 1. Has this been resolved? At least Wu managed to apologize to Lauren, and he seems to have gotten off his high horse in relation to Ross, so I shall lay off the ranting for now. But I just want to point out that my disgust about his obliviousness wasn't so much related to the AFL matter, but more how he didn't see how bad an unwanted outing can be in general. How would he like to have someting very private told to all and sundry? Like if he was into kinky sex, or someone posted a nude photo of him on the Internet. I was happy to see another reader get the 'I can't comment' reply. Oh, and I totally agree with Impunity about Kevin and Ross, they should stay friends - and yes, Kevin was there at the café incident. Interesting that Warwick has let slip something which made his co-workers suspect he's (almost) dating, and lucky for kevin he could say in complete honesty 'we're only friends.' The complexities of the draft are about to leave me lost, but I won't worry about all the details, but keep my fingers crossed for Ty, Deon and Dave. I still think Ross should become a Leopard officially. I noticed how Deon said Ross was sounding like Jim. Oh, and Julie would soon instill the necessary work ethics in him.

LOL, dugh, I hadn't thought about that, but you're absolutely right. Eugene probably doesn't know the Clayton story, but he and Pat have the right attitude. I'm delighted you think they are sweet together. I'm constantly trying to balance the romance with the fun, so my readers don't from sugar shock - or at least not all of you, I know some who will

I finally managed to get #510 done.

“Do you really think he did it?” Nelson suddenly asked out of the blue. They were almost at the other end of the park and had fallen silent after an animated discussion about favorite movie stars. “Do I think who did what?” Eric asked in confusion. “Did Rob really convince your parents to let you stay the night with me? Why would he do that?” “You mean apart from his generally pushy behavior and match-making tendencies?” They both chuckled, well aware what they owed Eric’s ol

I can understand his reaction even though I've never experienced any personal prejudice (I'm in the blend-in category like you). But such persistent name-calling is deeply wounding no matter who it targets, and you've now experienced the consequences it has for the victims. Be sure to tell him he has every right to feel offended and all right-minded people should oppose the behavior of those bigots. In fact, the counter-call should be: crude ass cockless cowards!

So what's worse: a liar or a cheater? Jason may have cheated on Pierre when he was young and foolish, but Corey has lied to Jason when he was mature and ought to know better. He told Jason they would talk later and he promised to get in touch when he got home, but he didn't live up to his promises. So is he any better than his dad or Jason back then? He needs to be forgiven the same way he said he had forgiven Jason and moved on - which wasn't true either. But at least they are on equal footing now as to Unforgivable Behavior. My guess is it's Drew outside Jason's door. If he had been at home for Christmas, Jason wouldn't have gotten away with not telling what was wrong. Drew probably called home and was told about Jason's strange behavior, and I bet his wife told him to go visit his brother while she stayed with her family. I very much doubt Jason's ex cares about him or even knows where he is. The only alternative is Corey himself, but Jason's greeting is a bit strange if it's him. But I guess he's not really 'with it' right now.

Tommy's father. So many interesting unsaid things hidden in those two words.

As i read the first two or three sentences, a quite different scenario was in my head, as I'm sure you intended, LOL. But I enjoyed the description of them working on the car and driving home in the rain. In the seventies my mother had a car with bad wipers and worse defogging system, and she had to keep wiping the front window in rainy weather and on frosty nights. I'm not too worried about Mikey's dad, I think he can be distracted by car repair tales, and he's too kind to pressure or embarrass his son. I liked the way Denny shows his appreciation of Greg so openly, praising him both in private and in front of the other boys. I know Denny has special issues, but in fact Greg needs his boyfriend to be just this way. He has longed for someone to want him and care about him in particular, and Denny gives him that. I think Jay's parents would like Greg's mum and dad, do they know each other? Benny and Cal almost made me blush, it's a good thing they're only surrounded by couples. I laughed along with Greg when Jay threw them all out soon after. I look forward to hearing more about all these great couples.