Shameless Affairs

Copyright Copyright © 2023 by Hayden Hall All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental. Edited by Sabrina Hutchinson Cover by Cate Ashwood Cover photo by Xram Ragde Written by Hayden Hall www.haydenhallwrites.com ISBN: 979-8-3918-4019-0 Contents Preface Prologue 1. Garret 2. Aaron 3. Garret 4. Aaron 5. Garret 6. Aaron 7. Garret 8. Aaron 9. Garret 10. Aaron 11. Garret 12. Garret 13. Aaron 14. Aaron 15. Garret 16. Aaron 17. Garret 18. Aaron 19. Garret 20. Aaron Epilogue More Stories From Hayden Hall About Author G et In Touch Join my newsletter for a freebie pack. Follow me on Instagram. Check out my website. It's www.haydenhallwrites.com Follow me on Amazon. Preface Dear reader, thank you for choosing Shameless Affairs. If you've read Destructive Relations, you know this series depicts non-traditional romantic heroes and situations. Shameless Affairs explores themes of infidelity (cheating with each other), slow death of relationships, and the extent to which our heroes are willing to go in order to win their soulmate's love. If you're cool with that, don't let me keep you. If that's not what you're looking for, I've got a lot of other books that might be a better fit. Have you read Frat Brats of Santa Barbara? For sweet, low-angst, and fluffy stories, give them a go. Hayden Hall Prologue I closed my hands into tight fists as the short flight of stairs appeared in front of me. I hadn’t been paying attention to my surroundings. My feet carried me automatically off the subway and all the way here. Home. My throat tightened as I tried to swallow and my eyes stung. Not yet, dammit, I growled internally. I hadn’t even entered the building yet, let alone faced Bruce. Three years of living together and I still felt the clenching of my heart whenever I had to give him bad news. My heart pounded harder when I imagined Bruce’s reaction. Would he be disappointed in me? Or would his kindness kill me? The scariest part was that I couldn’t tell. Sometimes, he was unpredictable. Not always, but often enough that, when it mattered, I had to think twice about the way I said certain things. And there was little that mattered more than this. And I needed to tell him today. Preferably as soon as he returned home from work. No matter his mood or attention, he needed to know. Mr. Shepherd’s words were still ringing in my ears as I looked at the slick steps leading into our brick and mortar building. “…simply not enough resources…department’s too large…not about your performance…” Well, good thing it wasn’t my performance that cost me my livelihood. That ought to help me sleep with a smile on my face tonight. I bet I would get a nice pat on the shoulder from Bruce for my great performance. Part of me wanted to run away. I wanted to board a bus and go wherever it took me. I didn’t want to have this conversation with my boyfriend. I didn’t want to let him down. Nothing hurt as much as watching his disappointment spill over the lines of his face. Already, I was a burden. My salary had been significantly lower, but it had been the difference between a roof over our heads and eviction. I inhaled deeply and marched up the stairs. There wouldn’t be a better time than tonight. My throat constricted, forcing me to wheeze the air out of my lungs. As I let myself into the building, the pressure on my chest doubled. Then, it doubled again with every step I climbed and every inch closer I got to our place. Our place, which I wouldn’t be able to afford for a lot longer unless someone pulled a job offer out of their ass. But there was nobody there on the poorly lit staircase of our rundown building, let alone someone carrying job offers quite like that. My heart throbbed and sank lazily as I reached the top landing. The penthouse, we called it on a good day. It was anything but a penthouse, though. The door paint was peeling. I pushed in and ignored the pile of mismatched shoes on the floor of the narrow hallway. Christ, how did we live like this? Maybe now, when I didn’t have to work all day long, I could clean this place up. I could give it a little makeover. I could rearrange the furniture and deep clean the tired floors and tiles and hidden nooks. Maybe something good would come out of this mess. Even as I thought this, I knew I was lying to myself. Come morning, I would be marching up and down the streets of New York, looking for any work opportunity I could find. Bagging groceries? Hell yeah. Scrubbing grease off pans? On it. Time after time, I wondered if it would be easier to go upstate and look for work. I’d heard of good opportunities. Rainbow Hearts was expanding the Sunrise Village project to more locations, gaining nation-wide attention over the past year or so. New shelters were dotted all over New York, in need of social workers now more than ever. We didn’t need to leave the state. We just needed to relocate somewhere cheaper. And I was sure I could find work up there, where competition wasn’t as fierce. These safehouses needed people who worked with the queer victims and working with queer victims of domestic violence was my entire work experience. But Bruce