Matched

  “Matched”

  M/M Gay Romance

  David Horne

  © 2018

  David Horne

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This book is intended for Adults (ages 18+) only. The contents may be offensive to some readers. It may contain graphic language, explicit sexual content, and adult situations. May contain scenes of unprotected sex. Please do not read this book if you are offended by content as mentioned above or if you are under the age of 18.

  Please educate yourself on safe sex practices before making potentially life-changing decisions about sex in real life. If you’re not sure where to start, see here: http://www.jerrycoleauthor.com/safe-sex-resources/ (courtesy of Jerry Cole).

  This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Products or brand names mentioned are trademarks of their respective holders or companies. The cover uses licensed images and are shown for illustrative purposes only. Any person(s) that may be depicted on the cover are simply models.

  Edition v1.00 (2018.06.11)

  http://www.DavidHorneauthor.com

  Special thanks to the following volunteer readers who helped with proofreading: C. Robinson, Judy M., and those who assisted but wished to be anonymous. Thank you so much for your support.

  Table of Contents

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter One

  Sunlight filtered through the overhead skylights. Angled light from the sun was casting diffracted rays of light to pierce the darkness. It illuminated the multitude of shelves currently heaving with books, drawing attention to the heavy accumulation of dust that hung in the air.

  “Quiet.”

  The harsh hiss of my voice didn’t even register or shock me anymore—I was so used to the hostile attitude that must be adopted when running a library. It’s like maintaining a machine: don’t give it enough attention and it goes haywire; overwork it too much and it overheats.

  The seventh and eighth graders in the room would run riot if I weren’t here to sustain the perfect balance of noise and silence that filled the room. The mixture of hushed whispers, pages being turned, and keys clacking on the keyboards was like music to me.

  I pushed back my mop of hazel brown hair, instantly remembering that I was in dire need of a haircut. However, I was always too busy with work to find the time. I then removed my glasses for a moment to rub my tired eyes. It wasn’t that work was something I loathed. I found a lot of peace from sitting in a quiet room for most of the day. It allowed me to regulate and organize my thoughts a lot better. Though it did dominate a large part of my time, leaving me with less time than I needed to live an actual life. I’d never imagined that a job as a librarian and assistant teacher would have provided a munificent salary, but this job had proven me wrong. It wasn’t the highest paying job in existence, and certainly not my end goal, but for the moment it was adequate.

  “Declan, I won’t ask again. Keep your voice down or you’ll leave the library.”

  The young boy merely rolled his eyes at me, seemingly unfazed by my threat. I narrowed my eyes at the whole group of boys that sat on the other side of the room. There were five of them, though only one of them actually held a book in his hand… and he wasn’t even reading it.

  “Right. Out, boys. You aren’t working and this isn’t somewhere for you to socialize.” This time I rose from my desk, stepping around it and swiftly walking over to their table. My abrupt action appeared to startle the boys, as they suddenly all got to their feet in a hushed panic.

  None of them looked me in the eye as they quickly scuttled past and toward the exit, each with silent resolution. That was undoubtedly the quietest that I’d ever heard them.

  “Mr. Archard.” I heard a familiar voice call and turned to look at the library’s other entrance. Claire closed the door behind her before walking over to where I stood. “I see you’ve had a busy day, Cameron.” She chuckled, glancing around the nearly empty room.

  Claire, or Mrs. Davidson when there were students present, had been my closest friend at this school since I’d started. Our friendship spanned almost four years now, and I found it hard to believe that she would soon be leaving to go on maternity leave, resulting in at least nine months without her around to brighten my day. It also meant that I would have to socialize with the other teachers here.

  It wasn’t that I had a strong dislike for the other teachers, just more the nuisance of how ignorant they could be sometimes. The majority of them were at least twenty years older than I was, meaning that topics Claire and I talked about appeared to them to be in another language. It did puzzle me how any of them managed to form any kind of connection with the children they taught or kept them engaged. These people weren’t relatable or interesting, and some weren’t much interested in, much less passionate, about the subject they taught.

  “It was a lot busier earlier. But busy means loud, and loud gets kicked out.” I shrugged.

  Claire immediately knew whom I was referring to. “It wasn’t Declan and that lot was it?” She shook her head as I nodded gravely. “They’d have so much potential if they stopped distracting one another.”

  “At least they still have two years until it all begins to matter, but I know what you’re saying. Best to get them into good habits now.” I sighed slightly, louder than expected. Glancing at the clock, I noticed that my time in the library was almost up for the day.

  “Are you finished here?” Claire questioned while following my gaze toward the clock on the wall close to us.

  “Yes, only about two minutes left. I think Darren has the next shift in here.”

  Claire nodded, the two of us glanced over at the now open door. At that moment, Darren himself was creeping into the silent room, careful not to draw too much attention to his presence; however, the door betrayed him, squeaking loudly and almost boastfully.

  “Let me just log off.” My hushed whisper successfully reached Darren who nodded, watching as I walked back over to my desk.

  I grabbed the various pieces of paperwork, stuffing them into my knapsack and logging myself off the large computer. I smiled one last time at Darren as he took my position at the desk before quietly walking over to Claire.

  “You have a break now, right?” she double checked. I nodded and opened the door, allowing Claire through first.

  “Yeah, I think I need some coffee, or I won’t be able to get through the rest of the day,” I said.

  We walked down the twisting maze of corridors that made up the network of the school. The school contained numerous extensions and out-buildings that all positioned to circle the central area, which was also the oldest part of the building. There wasn’t a single space on the walls that wasn’t covered with some kind of writing, artwork or graffiti. Some of it was years old and no one had bothered to clean it off or replace it. The closer we got to the newer and more modern area of the school, the more recent the pieces of are-work were. The shabby carpet that we walked across also improved as we came to the newer buildings. The frayed strands of fibers were easily a clear health and safety hazard, but the school was constantly losing money due to budget cuts. I’d once heard one teacher say, “If it’s not completely rotten or falling to bits, it’ll have to do for the time being.”

  “I can’t believe today is Adam’s last day,” Claire spoke sadly, catching me completely off guard. How could I have forgotten?

  “You forgot!” Claire’s cry of surprise sent a streak of guilt running through me. I’d even seen him that morning yet failed to mention anything about it.

  “I can’t believe I completely spaced out on it!” I closed my eyes for a second, disappointed in myself. “Does that mean that the party is tonight?” My sentence came out hesitantly, as I already knew the answer. I just needed to hear someone else say it.

  “Yes, it’s not much of a party though. Just a bunch of us meeting up for some drinks,” Claire explained nonchalantly.

  She made socializing seem so effortless, but I still struggled with the concept. I sometimes thought it might be because of the countless hours I’d spent in the library—the quiet solitude that has become the norm for my mind. A loud, bustling bar heavily conflicted with my comfort zone.

  “I knew you didn’t want to go, ever since I invited you.” Claire chuckled.

  “It’s not that… I just—"

  “You what? You don’t have any work to do. I checked your schedule on the system. It’s pretty clear. Besides, you have the whole weekend to catch up.” Claire had the events all perfectly organized.

  “Okay, fine,” I said after a long hesitation, pushing my hair up out of my eyes. I could already tell this was becoming a nervous habit. “But I’m not going to stay long, and you can’t make me.” I warned, causing Claire to laugh as we turned into the staff room that was just as empty as the library had been.

  “Yo
u know, you remind me of a really close friend of mine. I think you guys would get along,” Claire said.

  I listened to her intently while walking over to the cupboard, grabbing my mug and beginning to make a cup of coffee.

  “Would you like something?” I asked. Claire shook her head. Immediately after, she turned to a cupboard near her, and grabbed a box of assorted cookies.

  “What? It’s a cheat day,” she shrugged, causing me to chuckle, followed by a shake of my head.

  “Well if it’s a cheat day, then hand one over.” I smiled, glancing inside the box at the assortment of sweet treats. Picking up the piece of paper, I read through the vast array of options that I had to choose from, feeling my stomach grumble at the choice.

  “Hurry up and choose, or your coffee will get cold,” Claire said, laughing as I grabbed a couple of chocolate ones.

  “Do you know when we’ll find out who’s replacing Adam?” I asked while adding milk and sugar.

  “Sometime next week, I think,” Claire said with a frown. “I think that’s when Jesse said the interviews were.”

  “Is Jesse the friend of yours who’s up for the job?” I asked. She nodded with a small smile.

  “Yep.” Claire popped the “p” at the end of the word before taking a large bite out of a cookie. “Don’t forget about tonight, we’re all meeting in town at six o’clock, so don’t be late.”

  The tone of Claire’s voice resembled the tone in which she would order a student, not address a colleague. I raised an eyebrow at her.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so harsh. I just don’t want to be left alone with the oldies for too long.” Her words were quieter, so that the few teachers who were currently in the room didn’t hear. I doubt that it would go down well with them.

  “Yeah, I’ll definitely be there.” I nodded, internally groaning at the thought of having to spend time with some of these people outside of work hours. However, I didn’t mind spending time with Claire. We often met up on the weekends to go out or to cook for each other, and I was good friends with her husband, Steve.

  He seemed perfectly comfortable with the two of us being friends. I figured the reason was because I’m into guys instead of girls. If I weren’t gay, then I believed Steve would have a lot more objections to the two of us hanging out as frequently as we did.

  Thankfully, both of them are extremely comfortable and supportive of my sexuality, giving me people to turn to, even just to talk to.

  “Don’t worry, there’s no dress code tonight. I think everybody is just going casual.”

  Claire shrugged as I sipped at the piping hot liquid. Instantly I could feel it heating up my throat and insides. I was incredibly grateful for the caffeine boost, despite only having one more hour of the school day left. It was always the hardest. I had to be the teaching assistant for Mark.

  Mark was the oldest and most stuck up of all the older teachers, with distinct and traditional views on everything and anything. During the class, he rarely spoke to me, and, if he did, it was to bark orders at me of what to do or whom to help.

  “Do you think if we just hide in here, Mark won’t even notice I’m not in the classroom?” I said out loud, causing Claire to chuckle at my absurd proposal.

  “I somehow think he’ll notice,” Claire remarked as the bell erupted through the buildings. It split through the silence that had fallen over the school corridors while the children were in their classrooms and signaled that it was the beginning of an hour filled with Mark’s monotonous voice.

  “I guess I’ll see you tonight, then.” I sighed, placing down the almost empty mug of coffee.

  “Yes! Remember, six o’clock at Center Plaza,” Claire reminded me once more, causing me to roll my eyes in mocking annoyance.

  “How could I forget?” I grumbled, grabbing my bag and heading out into the now overflowing corridor. The sea of faces that barged into each other, shouted at one another loudly, and overall resembled the typical behavior found in public schools. However, the majority of the students were younger, so that I towered over them. My height gave me an advantage in situations such as these. I wasn’t disconcerted by the mayhem of the corridors as none of these wild animals could reach me.

  I headed in the direction of the classroom—I called it prison—that Mark taught in, worming my way through hyperactive children until I finally reached my destination.

  “Hello, Cameron. I don’t know if you got the email, but I told you to be here a few minutes earlier than the rest of the students,” Mark remarked sternly. He seemed to be under some illusion that he was the principal. I glanced around and noticed a few of the students already filing into the classroom. I’d read the email, but it had completely slipped my mind. Perhaps the library’s quietness wasn’t helping as much as I’d thought.

  “Sorry Mark, I got busy,” I replied simply, not wanting to create a false excuse. He’d find a way to see through it, and I’m not a great liar.

  “Okay. Just stand at the back and, once the lesson begins, do what you normally do.” I nodded in response, discreetly groaning at the same time.

  I deemed this lesson the worst, partially because of Mark’s teaching style, but also because he had no control over the class. He didn’t discipline them, meaning that they didn’t listen to him, let alone listen to me.

  The hour dragged by at a painfully slow speed, leaving me actually looking forward to the end of the day, despite having to go out with my colleagues in a few hours’ time. Mark’s droning voice was easy to block out, leaving me to think about other things. It reminded me of the solitary library in a way.

  “Mr. Archard, did you hear that?” Mark snapped while walking over to me. The room had filled with a hum of chatter from the students, so nobody witnessed this embarrassing conversation.

  “Uhm, sorry, I didn’t catch the end of it,” I admitted, shrugging my shoulders while bracing myself for a monotonous speech about paying attention.

  “I said could you finish collecting the work sheets.” Mark sighed in annoyance, visibly vexed by my lack of help. It wasn’t intentional, I just found it increasingly difficult to listen to a voice that never varied in tone.

  “Yep, I’m on it.” I nodded, glancing at the clock to see that there was less than five minutes left of the lesson. Whizzing around the room, I collected all the various pieces of paper, some seeming to be far less completed than others. But I was in no mood and had no time to confront any of these students about it.

  In contrast to the sound an hour ago, I couldn’t have been more relieved to hear the sharp ring of the bell. The students scurried out of the room, eager to get out of the building and begin their weekend. Mark went back to his desk, beginning to type frantically.

  “Have a good weekend Mark.” I nodded to him as he looked up at me.

  “Don’t think you’re getting rid of me that easily, Cameron. I’m going to join you all tonight for Adam’s farewell get-together.” Mark’s words caused my heart to drop slightly. I had to fight back the urge to groan and roll my eyes.

  “Oh great, I guess I’ll see you tonight then.” I forced a smile onto my face while grabbing my knapsack and swiftly exiting the classroom.

  My mind flitted back to what Claire had been saying about her friend Jesse. I hoped she got the job here so that we weren’t so outnumbered by older teachers. It would also mean that when Claire went on maternity leave, I’d have someone else to suffer along with.

  The cool, fresh air hit my face as I opened the door that led out to the parking lot. I marveled at the enlivening and refreshing feeling, so much in contrast to the hot and stuffy atmosphere within the school building.

  I suddenly felt a freezing wetness engulf my foot and ankle. Sighing as I looked down, I saw that I’d stepped into a particularly deep puddle. The chilling liquid had already soaked through my thick socks and frozen my foot as I continued over to where my small car was parked. My old VW wasn’t anything flashy or special, especially on a teacher’s salary, but it got me around and was comfortable enough for me not to complain about it.

  The small sound of its unlocking could barely be heard above the noise of the already bustling lot. Instructors filtered out of the school swiftly, obviously eager to get home. The majority of the faces in the parking lot were teaching assistants, none of whom had their own classes. I felt sorry for teachers like Claire. She had to stay until half past four, while I was free to leave on time.