Unforgivable - 1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Present Day (Spring 2016)

Corey stared at the card in his hand, a smile tugging at his lips as he stroked the silver embossing. Andrew was getting married. It was damned near miraculous. When they were younger, Drew enjoyed playing the field and never involved himself in serious relationships. Now he was engaged and the wedding date was set.

Everything seemed to be moving incredibly fast, but when his friend told him about the girl he’d met last summer, he knew then the man was falling hard. It made Corey smile to hear Andrew talk about the leggy brunette who literally crashed into his life when the bumper car she was in collided with his. Liz was at the fair with her friends, and he was there with a group of buddies from work. After buying Andrew a beavertail as an apology for her repeated attack on his vehicle, they’d been virtually inseparable… at least that was the impression Corey got from a gushing Andrew. He had yet to meet the girl who’d stolen his best friend’s heart, but he could already tell he was going to like her from their brief telephone conversations.

Corey looked at the invitation again. A June wedding… a little over a month away. As soon as Andrew told him the date, he’d rearranged his schedule to ensure he could be there. There was no way he was missing this. Pierre seemed just as excited, screeching unintelligibly when Andrew conference called the two of them to relay the news. After Andrew’s family, they were the first to know.

Corey loved living in Kingston, and enjoyed his work as a physiotherapist, but he really missed his friends. With Andrew living out west in Edmonton, and Pierre in Ottawa, they were all so busy it was hard to get together as much as they used to. He’d seen Pierre this past summer when they met up at his family’s cottage, but it had been two years since he and Andrew had been face to face. Email and phone calls just weren’t the same thing.

Putting the invitation back in his desk drawer, Corey sighed and reached for his phone. He’d been putting off calling his mother about his return to town, and the invitation reminded him how long he’d been avoiding this conversation. His father might be a cheating asshole, but he always tried to check in with his mom at least once every couple of weeks. It had been several years since he’d spoken to his dad. The last time they spoke was when he’d called the old man out about his latest affair.

He was home from school for the Easter holidays when his father left on Saturday afternoon, claiming he had to go to the office. After dinner Corey decided to go out for a run, and on his return through town, he spotted his father’s car parked in the side lot of one of the local motels. He jogged around to confirm it was the right vehicle, and decided to wait, leaning against a tree on the opposite side of the street.

After half an hour, the man came out of one of the rooms and climbed into his vehicle, heading back towards his downtown office. A few minutes later a young woman, who Corey recognized as a teller at the bank next to his father’s office, came out and drove in the opposite direction. Corey felt a familiar disgust as he stared at the motel. He wondered if his mother knew about this one, or if she was still under the misguided belief that her husband was actually being faithful this time around.

When he returned home he showered, changed, and plastered a smile on his face for his mother. Although he wished she would leave the bastard, Corey’s quarrel wasn’t with her, and he refused to add more stress to her life. His father returned a couple of hours later, while they were cleaning up their dessert dishes. It broke his heart to see his mother happily welcoming her husband home, and telling him how bad she felt because he had to work on a holiday weekend. When she finally went to bed Corey turned on his father. He told him what he’d seen and lit into the older man about his philandering ways. The senior Smyth was incensed. Not even bothering to deny the accusations, he instead claimed what happened in or out of his marriage was none of Corey’s business. The resulting argument woke his mother who watched in tears as her husband kicked their son out of the house, telling him never to return. No amount of pleading from his wife would change the man’s mind. Corey quickly packed, and after giving his mother a kiss on the cheek, he left.

He hadn’t stepped foot in the house or spoken to his father since that night, five years ago, even with his mother’s assurances that the man had ‘really changed this time’.

“Corey.” Helen Smyth’s melodious voice came over the receiver. “I was wondering when I’d hear from you.”

“Hey, mom.” Corey leaned back in his chair. “Sorry, I know I said I’d call a while ago.”

“It’s okay, sweetie,” the woman answered. “I know work is really busy with those college players you took on.”

Corey cringed hearing the automatic forgiveness in his mother’s voice. The soft-hearted woman was always too quick to let people off the hook, even if they didn’t deserve it. “No,” he said with a sigh. “I said I would call, and I should have. Now… how is work? Did you get that raise you were expecting?”

They talked for a while about work and Andrew’s upcoming wedding, avoiding the subject of Ian Smyth. His mom was thrilled to receive an invitation, and excited to see her son’s best friend get married. Although she never said anything, he knew she must wonder if she’d ever see her own son standing at the altar. Gay marriage might be legal in Canada, but that didn’t mean Corey was swarming with prospects. He was dating someone now, but knew in his heart he didn’t love Zach. Lately he’d been questioning how much he even liked the man. Corey promised he would come to town early enough to give them time to have lunch together, alone, and then said goodbye. He felt a twinge of guilt for not visiting very often, but knew seeing the old man would not end well… for anyone.

The rest of his afternoon flew by, with an endless stream of patients. His last appointment of the day was a teenaged car accident victim who’d fractured his femur and his spine. “You’re doing well,” Corey said, nodding in encouragement. The young man had only recently had his cast removed, and was working hard to get his mobility back, even with the back brace he was still required to wear. It was a long and painful process, but Corey was impressed with the young man’s continued positive attitude.

“Thanks, Mr. S.” Jon grinned at him, wiping his sweaty face with a towel. “Think I’m gonna be able to wakeboard this summer?”

Corey grimaced slightly. “No,” he finally answered. “Your back is still healing, and so is your leg. I wouldn’t want you to push it too quickly.”

“Yeah, I thought so,” the young man said with an exaggerated sigh. “There’s always next year, right?”

Corey finished with Jon and, after reminding him about the exercises he should be doing at home, he returned to his office to update his patient notes. He soon became engrossed in his task, blocking out his assistant, Liam, who was answering phones and tapping on his keyboard in the front room.

“Hey, you almost done? I’m fucking starving.” The grumpy voice from the door drew Corey’s attention away from his computer. He looked at the clock and realized he’d been working for almost an hour.

“Not quite,” he answered Zach, his boyfriend of four months. “I need to finish these notes on my last patient. Give me 15 minutes?”

Zach grumbled about dying of hunger as he walked back to the reception area, sitting heavily in one of the waiting room chairs. Liam had finished cleaning their ‘exercise’ room and popped his head in to say goodbye to Corey.

“See you tomorrow, boss,” he said with a smile.

“Night, Liam.” Corey smiled back. “Thanks for your help today.”

As the lithe man headed to the door, Corey watched his boyfriend turn his head to stare at Liam’s ass. With a sigh he turned back to the monitor... he had no idea why he was still with Zach. Granted, the assistant coach was good-looking, with a great body, and the sex had started out great, but his personality was really wearing on Corey. Being horny and lonely was no reason to put up with a boyfriend who openly ogled other men, and didn’t seem to give a shit if his partner got off or not when they had sex.

Corey finished his work, and shut down the computer. He hoped Zach didn’t want to go out somewhere tonight. Today’s schedule was long, and he had another early day tomorrow with sessions starting at 6 am. Maybe he could convince the other man to eat in, and call it an early night.

“I’m ready,” he said, locking his office door.

“Good,” Zach answered. Corey could hear the creak of the chair behind him as his boyfriend stood. “We had a brutal practice today. Coach decided it was fitness day.”

Corey chuckled. He knew all about punishment practices, playing hockey and baseball when he was younger. “Who pissed off Cavanagh?”

“Jones, Cooper, and Anderson were late again today, so the whole team got punished. Pretty sure they won’t do that again when the rest of the guys get through with them. “

Nodding his head and laughing, Corey followed his boyfriend out of the clinic. “Well at least it’s one of the last practices of the season.”

He lived only a few kilometers away, and liked to walk to work, so he had to hop in with Zach. They didn’t normally spend a lot of time Zach’s place, since the man lived in a small apartment with two roommates. Corey owned his own home, and although it wasn’t large, it was private. Even if the roommates seemed okay with their relationship, there were only so many beercan towers and dirty laundry piles Corey could handle. He wasn’t a clean freak, but those three acted like they were still living in a college frat house. Surprisingly, the only thing Zach kept spotless was his truck, a lovingly washed and detailed black, shiny beast of a vehicle.

Corey gave the other man several options for dinner before finally settling on carbonara. His boyfriend ate quickly, only grunting when Corey asked if dinner as all right. After dinner, Zach grabbed a beer and settled on the couch, looking for the baseball game while Corey cleared away the dishes. He grabbed his own beer and joined the man in the living room, happy to finally be settling in for the night.

They watched the game in relative quiet, only talking when discussing a call they disagreed with, or exclaiming over a particularly good play. Sports was what actually brought Corey and Zach together many months ago. Zach worked in the local college’s sports program, which had lost its trainer. A few of their players had sustained injuries during the year, and the coach, Phil Cavanagh, contacted Corey personally to ask if he’d be interested in taking over for the rest of the season. Although he didn’t have the time needed to accept their offer, and follow them on the road, he did agree to oversee the physical therapy regimes. He met the assistant coach when the big man brought one of the players to him for evaluation. Zach was crude and full of himself, but Corey was impressed by how much the guy seemed to care about the welfare of his players.

If Corey was honest with himself, he could also admit he enjoyed the attention from the muscular man. Kingston wasn’t known for its high gay population, so there weren’t a lot of prospects. After a couple of weeks of flirting, Zach finally asked him out, and they’d been together ever since. It wasn’t that they had a great relationship, or had much in common, but Corey was happy not to be dating his left hand anymore.

Their team was losing, and before long Corey felt his boyfriend’s hand sliding up to his neck, teasing the short hair. He’d been with the man long enough to recognize the signal for what it was. It’d been a couple of days, so his cock quickly perked up with interest. Reaching down he placed his hand on a thick thigh, sliding to the cock steadily hardening beneath its denim covering. As he stroked Zach over his jeans the other man’s mouth latched onto his neck, nibbling and sucking on the flesh there.

“Suck me,” Zach’s whispered, exerting pressure on the back of his head.

Corey’s hands worked swiftly, reaching inside to free the other man’s now leaking cock. He allowed Zach to guide him down, and quickly enveloped his boyfriend with his warm, wet mouth. The grip on the back of his head tightened as the coach started to pump up, fucking his mouth. Suppressing his gag reflex, he swallowed and took the other man into his throat.

“Fuck, that’s good.” Zach groaned and started moving faster. “Yeah, just like that.”

As he listened to the groaning and grunting above him, Corey moved to ease the pressure on his own hard dick. The cock in his mouth twitched, and his boyfriend groaned loudly, cumming without warning. Pulling away, the panting man tucked himself back into his jeans. “Thanks Cor,” he said, standing. “This game’s a lost cause. I think I’m going to head out. Coach scheduled an early meeting for tomorrow. See you this weekend?”

Corey sat there, stunned, as his boyfriend left with barely a wave, shutting the door behind him. “Well fuck,” he said with a sigh, leaning back against the couch. “Guess I’ll take care of this in the shower.”

As he stroked himself to completion under the hot spray, he wondered, for the millionth time, why he was still with Zachary Hartle. They had little in common, except for a love of sports. It made for pretty limited conversation.

Lying in bed, he debated whether he should bring Zach to Andrew’s upcoming wedding. His best friend seemed to have what Corey wanted to find: someone to spend forever with. Forever wasn’t going to happen with Zach. The fact he was thinking this way only four months in wasn’t a good sign. Maybe after the wedding? Groaning, he knew he was only delaying the inevitable yet again. Yeah, loneliness is a bitch.

I would like to thank my editor, Gary, for all of his help with this story.     Thank you to all of you who have taken the time to read.