Queried Sick

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Queried Sick Copyright © 2023 by Dallas Smith All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. Contact Info: authordallassmith.com Cover Design: mitxeran Editor: Kathy Bosman, Indie Editing Chick Author Photo: Owen Paterline First Edition: May 2023 Paperback ISBN: 979-8-9881766-0-2 Dedicated to my husband, Will: the man who, when I jokingly asked who I should dedicate this book to, said "the cats" and inspired Oliver’s love of baking The very essence of romance is uncertainty. – Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest Contents Title Page Copyright Dedication Epigraph Author's Note Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five Chapter Twenty-Six Chapter Twenty-Seven Chapter Twenty-Eight Chapter Twenty-Nine Epilogue Bonus Epilogue Acknowledgments About the Author Guide Contents Start of Content Author's Note QUERIED SICK IS a contemporary, queer adult romance that contains strong language, sexual themes, and content that may be troubling to some readers, including but not limited to, the COVID-19 pandemic, quarantine, toxic family dynamics, disownment, biphobia, references to past death, grief, off-page parental death, panic attacks, chronic illness, hospitalization, and coming out. Reader discretion is advised. Representation: bisexuality, anxiety disorder, chronic illness. Tropes and tags: workplace romance; epistolary; very-brief-enemies to friends to lovers; mutual pining; slow burn; found family; foul-mouthed cinnamon roll; grumpy/sunshine adjacent; the literary quotes are bad on purpose; gratuitous references to The Importance of Being Earnest; beware of potential Game of Thrones spoilers; they’re both bisexual disasters; are you still in forced proximity if you’re socially distanced? Chapter 1 Ezra Sunday Night, February 23, 2020 Ryan Coleman February 23, 2020, 8:53 PM Ezra Beaumont Caroline found me. Well, actually the private detective she hired did. Either way, I’m officially being disowned. Ezra’s leg bounced as he sat on a rickety folding chair on Alessi’s tiny balcony that overlooked the city, waiting for Ryan to respond to his text. Rome was six hours ahead of New York, which meant that it was mid-afternoon for Ryan in New York and he was still at work. It rarely prevented him from messaging Ezra back, seeing as Ryan did half of his marketing job from his cell phone anyway. Ezra unlocked his phone to check the read-receipt again, then blew out a sigh. He was not usually so impatient, but after the evening he’d had, he couldn’t help it. He’d gotten off the video call where his mother had informed him over an hour ago that he was being completely disinherited, but then he had to do some damage control. He’d been staying at his friend Alessi’s apartment during this trip to Rome, which meant he was there to witness the drama. His mother had sent a private detective to find him. An actual PI—one that was likely on his family’s payroll already. When the man knocked on the door and realized Ezra’s relationship with Alessi, he’d video-called Caroline Beaumont. Thankfully, Alessi was only fluent in Italian and bare-bones English, so he hadn’t understood a majority of what Caroline had screamed. Nevertheless, Alessi had questions and was understandably shaken, and Ezra’s conversational Italian was mediocre at best, so trying to calm him down was…a challenge. Although he wasn’t sure if it would have been any easier if he and Alessi spoke the same language. It would likely take him years of therapy to understand the tumultuous history he had with his family, much less explain it to someone else. But he had never been in one place long enough to find a therapist, and even if he did, the concept of being that vulnerable wasn’t something he was ready for. So instead, he sat, staring out at the view of Rome, hoping it would somehow calm his nerves as it usually did. There was something about the twinkling night sky and the antiquity of the cityscape that brought him a sense of peace; it was the main reason he’d stayed in Europe after his university graduation. But tonight, it brought him no comfort. The city was too quiet after the stay-at-home order had gone into effect, making the scene more unsettling than peaceful. Ezra glanced down at his phone again and breathed out a sigh of relief at the bubbles on WhatsApp that meant Ryan was typing. Ryan Coleman February 23, 2020, 9:03 PM Ryan Coleman Shit Sorry I was in a meeting Where are you? Are you ok? What time is it where you are? Can I call you? Fuck it, I’m calling anyway He couldn’t help his faint smile at the barrage of messages, which were immediately replaced with a notification of an incoming call. He accepted and held the phone up to see his best friend’s face fill the screen. On a normal day, he would comment on the pile of haphazard curls on Ryan’s head that he’d never been able to tame in the 10 years he’d known him, but all he could do was let out another sigh of relief. "Hey—" "What happened?" Ryan demanded, skipping right over the pleasantries. "Actually, scratch that. First, are you okay?" "Depends on your definition of okay," Ezra answered honestly. "Physically, I’m both exhausted and amped up. I feel like I could sleep for three days, but also, I can’t seem to sit still." "And emotionally?" Ryan prompted. Ezra shrugged. "I’ve been worse," he said, then sighed, taking in the look on Ryan’s face,