Finally Heaven (Room 103 Book 4) by D H Sidebottom Page A

stomach revolted at the mere sight of it, but I perused it for a while, trying to stall my return to the table. I just didn’t know what to say, and to be honest, it wasn’t even my place to be seated with them but it had been Jen’s insistent phone call that I join them for breakfast that had seen me there at the wrong time.
    My heart ached. E had told me what she had gone through when her mother had died of cancer. She too had also hidden it from her family, only facing up to it when it had been too late.
    My eyes lifted to two young men sat beside the buffet table who were sniggering, their heads together over a newspaper. They were swearing and laughing loudly, the diners around them glowering their way.
    I picked up a bread roll, picking at it and stalling further as I moved around the table just studying the various foods.
    “Fucking ponce!” one of the men hissed with disgust.
    “Yeah but fuck, I’d have never have thought it. Shit, the guy was always in the paper with some hot pussy on his arm, if it wasn’t splashed all over the front page, I would never have believed it.”
    “Dirty bastard!” the first one spat out, the sinister tone in his voice making my body still. He seemed to radiate viciousness, just the way he spoke put me on alert. “It makes me wanna hurl knowing he’s sat somewhere in this room. Fuck, he’s probably eyeing me up right now!”
    I turned my head, my dark glasses hiding my eyes from them. His friend nudged him, “Yeah, he might be imagining sliding under the table and grabbing your dick with his teeth!”
    “What the fuck, you sick bastard!” He stood up, shivering and slapped his mate around the head before taking off, his mate scurrying after him.
    I pulled off some more bread, popping it into my mouth as curiosity got the better of me and I grabbed the newspaper they had been looking at.
    A funny choked sound caught in my throat when the contents of my stomach battled with the piece of bread I’d just swallowed. Luckily the bread won as I forced them both down.
    I dropped into a chair as my eyes froze on the black and white picture spread across the front page. I wasn’t even aware that my head was shaking from side to side, my mouth wide open as tears ran down my hot cheeks.
    “Are you okay, dear?” an elderly woman sat on the next table asked gently as she leaned in towards me. Her eyes dropped to see what I was staring at. “Oh dear, that poor boy. I expect they’ll cripple his career for this. He always seemed so nice to me, a bit of a rum ‘un. But he’s a boy and boys need their fun, eh?”
    I stared at her, “I…”
    “Oh those men are just homophobic, don’t you let them upset you.”
    “I…”
    I couldn’t form words. My heart rate had tripled as the world seemed to slow around me causing a conflict in my brain. I wondered if I was still drunk. How much had I consumed last night? It wasn’t making any sense.
    However, when I witnessed Brent storm through the room, Julie hot on his tail, his furious eyes zeroing in on the room where they all were, I knew I wasn’t imagining anything. The picture on the front page of Daniel and Mr Mercedes kissing, unmistakeably naked under a thin sheet in bed was real. It was very fucking real.

    JUST AS I was about to go after Zoe, the need to be near her overpowering, Brent stormed in the room. His enraged face snapped left and right as he hunted for someone. Me evidently, when his narrow eyes found me and darkened further.
    Fuck, what now?
    He froze for a moment, his expression softening guiltily before he pulled himself together. Every single hair rose on my body, alarm bells ringing in every lobe of my brain. Something was wrong, something very bad.
    “Brent?”
    His teeth sank into his bottom lip. My eyes lowered to the newspaper rolled up in his hand, then back up.
    “Can you remember when I signed you all?” he asked curiously, pulling out a chair and seating himself opposite me, his eyes still very much