 |
 |
After his mother’s death, Chris struggles to deal with the lack of privacy that dorm living brings. Deciding to move into a single room, he is conscious that the man that will be living next door is the only man ever to arouse him; his old campmate Peter. Knowing that they had kind of resolved the situation that occurred at camp, Chris doesn’t foresee any awkwardness between the two of them. Of course, that is until he realises just how thin the walls are between the two of them. Able to hear every move, he becomes more and more aware of his attractive neighbour. When one night Chris hears Peter masturbating, he realises that there is no denying the way his body reacts to the other man. But will he accept his feelings this time around?
Peter has lusted after Chris every day since waking up to find the other man spooning against him in a cold tent. His favourite fantasy is about his very straight tent-mate; he can’t quite believe his luck when he moves in next door. Listening to Chris moving around, talking to him before he goes to sleep and seeing him half naked running from the shower, proves too much for his libido to take and he spends most of his days aroused. He knows that he shouldn’t be obsessing about a man who has never given him the slightest inclination that he feels anything toward him. Then one night Chris comes home from a party drunk and, suddenly, everything changes.
But can Chris ever fully embrace his feelings to become more than a closeted case? Or can Peter become content to be the very secret lover?
Daisy Harris is a lady who I will always review for. Her writing style is easy to read and flows very well, so I always find it to engage with her stories. This is the first in her new MM series and I really enjoyed it! I’m going to find it hard to review this short story without giving too much away but I’m going to try anyway! This story is a lovely journey of sexual discovery and young love; I truly did enjoy the sweetness of it all. I enjoyed both characters immensely and, although I did think the ending was a little too well wrapped up too quickly, I found myself smiling right the way through the whole thing.
Both characters had met previously and Chris already doubted, even on a conscious level, that he was 100% heterosexual. This helped this story along, as the length would have made a complete change in sexuality improbable. When he moved into the flat, he knew that it had the potential to be a messy situation, but the thought of not being left alone to grieve is worse. Once he starts to realise he is sexually aware of Peter, he has a period of time where everything he thinks about him “doesn’t make me gay”. This both amused and saddened me because I know that there are young men all over attributing them kind of thoughts to their feelings. He knows he is attracted to Peter, but he dismisses it. It isn’t until he hears him masturbating that he realises that it’s useless to deny it because he ends up masturbating alongside him to, what he assumes, is Peter having sex. In fact it’s Peter watching Porn that he hears (this amused me greatly and then worried me…just what the hell have they made these walls from?). From this moment on, Chris realises that he can’t fight it anymore. It made me laugh that the first time he instigates anything he is drunk as a skunk, but it’s also highly probable that could happen.
Peter is a nice character. He has no doubts about his attraction, but that’s probably because he is openly gay so attraction to male hotties is a given. Once him and Chris start to something (I call it something as it is completely bonkers at the start; it’s not sex and it’s not a relationship) he has to decide whether or not to allow himself to become the secret that Chris keeps in the closet. That he has enough respect for himself to do that was refreshing; there are too many MM stories out there where people are happy to accept other people’s crumbs for 95% of the story. I loved the way he treated Chris, ever conscious that these were all first time experiences for him and that he could be struggling with all that was happening.
The sex scenes in this were very, very hot. They all happen after 30 % (my cut-off point for spoilers) but I will ask you to look out for a scene where the ridiculously thin walls lead for a very interesting version of through-the-wall sex. I loved every second of it; there was only pleasure for these two, there was no pretence or over-melodramatic angst. The only complaint I had was how quickly Chris went from heterosexual to his end of book status. It was like he sped through several stages of a relationship to make sure the end of the story had a nice bow on it. Be that as it may, I still enjoyed every part of this book immensely and had either a racing heart or a stupid grin throughout.
A sweet and sexy short read about first love, college life and sexual discovery. I’m not sure I would have been comfortable having walls so thin, but they sure made this story hot!
Heya Nix!
I normally don't comment on reviews, cuz I know it can feel like the author is butting in. But I had to laugh when you wondered exactly what Holsum college had used to make these walls. LOL
I actually lived in a room with one of those uber-thin walls my freshman year in college. Seriously, it was so thin I could hear my next door neighbor turning over in bed.