Hello guys, here's chapter 3 of "Love In Neon City", enjoy! ..

Hello guys, here's chapter 3 of "Love In Neon City", enjoy! 😉

Chapter 3: The Realization

They parted ways at the end of the street. The morning was cold and rainy. As Josh left the motel, the city felt darker and emptier. His gaze returned to his usual somber mood, and he couldn't help but think of the lyrics to his favorite song, "Don't Say A Word" by Benjamin Koll:

"HIS GAZE WAS FADED BY THE RAIN.

I KEPT WALKING AWAY.

THE CITY FELT SO DARK, SO EMPTY.

Back in his apartment, he played the song on repeat, feeling each word resonate deeper than ever. Corey's touch, his smile, the way he laughed - Josh couldn't get any of it out of his mind. He began to regret having allowed himself to get so close, fearing it would complicate his life and responsibilities.

He had lived with his parents for a while. He had to come back when things didn't go well for him and his father died. Now his mother depended on him. He wanted to get out, but it became more and more difficult as the years went by. He allowed himself a little excursion every 4 or 5 months, and sometimes he was lucky, sometimes he wasn't. But he had never allowed himself to feel this way about anyone before.

Meanwhile, Corey was also struggling. He found himself wandering the city's bars, hoping to run into Josh again. With each passing day, the emptiness grew, and he felt a strange longing he had never felt before. He was happy with his guys, he was so thankful for them and the life they had... but something had awakened inside of him. He tried many times to draw Josh's face on paper, but he could never get it right. He longed to see those eyes again, to touch his hair, to kiss his chest. What a man. He also wanted to wash away the hint of sadness in his eyes. He wanted to make love to him again, to go back to that warm place.

One night, while scrolling through his feed to a local gay bear social media forum, Josh saw a post that made his heart skip a beat. Someone had written about a mysterious encounter with a "freckled redhead" at a motel, and the guys were digging it. The details were too specific to be a coincidence.

Josh's fingers flew across the keyboard, sending a message to the anonymous poster. Could that be Corey? His heart pounded as he waited for a reply, hoping against hope that it was him.