An introduction to For the love of Leon

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B092SP3MC5

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B092SP3MC5

Synopsis

    Leon wanted the same thing everyone else wants: a loving relationship lasting beyond a few weeks. All he’d ever been able to find, however, was a few weeks hot on sex but cold on romance. The day he walks into the local pub and sees a newcomer sitting by the window, he hopes his luck is about to change.
    As he and Simon spend time together, Leon realizes not everything is as perfect as he’d thought it would be. Experiencing love also means experiencing the ups and downs of a new relationship.
    When Simon tells Leon they need to talk, Leon is forced to wonder... is he going to be unlucky in love yet again?

Excerpt

Sitting in the park enjoying the scorching sun, my attention was drawn to the couples there. Lying around, walking hand in hand, they were everywhere. I found myself wishing life had been kind enough to grant me a relationship like theirs. It wasn’t as though I hadn’t tried to have something like that in my life. I’d done everything to find the right person and settle down. But they had all been meaningless, intense passion and nothing else, fizzling out after months, sometimes weeks. Try as I might, no one I had ever met seemed to want to commit to a long-term relationship. Don’t get me wrong, the sex was fucking great, always the star of a relationship, but some nights I would have liked someone to go out with. A meal, the cinema, or even a concert, and then home like a loving couple. Someone who didn’t just want to fuck, but someone who liked to kiss and cuddle, someone to wake up with and make breakfast for.

Just watching the crowds started to get me down and I stood up, making my way out of the park, aimlessly wandering to anywhere I didn’t have to stare at all the happiness around me. Staring in shop windows at fancy designer gear I could easily afford, but had no reason to own, pissed me off even more. I made my way to a small bar by the river I knew wouldn’t be over-crowded with more couples.

Once there, I ordered a pint and sat outside by the river’s edge, just watching the barges trundle by and the handful of fisherman desperately trying to outdo each other with their catches. Smiling to myself, I felt a lot more relaxed than I had at the park and as the afternoon drew toward evening, I started to think about the long walk back through town to my apartment. I knew I couldn’t put it off, even though I would happily have stayed where I was, watching the world drift by forever. I drained my glass and headed back into the bar. As I leaned over to set my empty pint on the counter, I saw him, sitting alone by one of the windows. Suddenly leaving seemed like the last thing I wanted to do. I situated myself on a barstool, ordered a coke, and tried not to look like I was watching him, only glancing over every now and again.