Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Kicking It with the Best Man 
SERIES: Out and Kickin’
AUTHOR: Riley Long
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 152 pages
RELEASE DATE: June 5, 2023
BLURB:
I’ve been out and proud for years, happily living my truth. Never did I imagine I would be asked to step back into the closet.
Until that night at the club.
After one too many cocktails, I ended up in a bathroom stall enjoying a hot and steamy tryst with a super sexy guy named Nate. We exchanged numbers and indulged in some spicy sexting.
But when I asked him to meet up again, he ghosted me.
I tried distracting myself by acting as a friend’s plus one to a wedding. Who do I see standing next to the groom, looking like a snack? Nate. He claims no one knows he’s gay and asks me to be discreet. Still, my years of hiding are behind me. Can I help him find the strength to come out to his family and friends? Or will his reservations be too big an obstacle to overcome?
REVIEW:
Theo is a music/theater teacher at a high school. Hi bestie, Sadie, is tired of him moping around after a breakup of a guy who definitely didn’t deserve him and so he goes out to a bar to stop being a sad sorry sack at home. He sees a really good looking guy “across the room” as it were while he’s waiting for his drink and thinks the guy looks like he might be interested too. But when he gets his drink, he turns around and the guy is gone. Then he gets his beer knocked all over him and goes to the bathroom to try to get the worst of it out and who should end up following him but said hot guy.
After a very hot hookup in the bathroom stall and an exchange of numbers, Theo texts Nate to tell him he had a good time and would be up for more 😉 Surprisingly Nate texts him back. They end up texting which leads to sexting and all seem to be going well. But when Theo suggests maybe meeting up in person again, well Nate bails.
Theo is down in the dumps about the Nate situation and reaches out this friends for consolation. They are upset on his behalf and tell him that he doesn’t need that kind of headache. He agrees to go to a “destination wedding” with his friend Sadie for his old boss’s son and hopes that will get him out of his funk. Until he discovers that it’s Nate’s brother who is getting married and is standing at the front of the wedding guests. UGH! Clearly Nate is NOT happy to see him. Theo lets Sadie know that this is the guy who bailed and she’s none too happy either. Turns out Nate is not out to anyone and is worried that Theo being there is going to blow it. He’s just not ready to face potentially losing everything and everyone.
Theo has been out for a long time. He’s not sure he can go back in the closet – even for someone as great as Nate seems to be. It’s obvious Nate has some soul searching to do and if he can’t figure things out, he could lose his shot with Theo.
This is a cute pretty low angst story of a hookup that turns into more. Theo is a good guy – not been that lucky in love, but he really likes Nate. He like Nate more than he’s every liked anybody in fact. But he doesn’t want to live is life in the closet. He’s got a good job, great friends and he’s happy with himself. He’s just really like to have a boyfriend and Nate would be perfect for him. Nate has some issues that he’s trying to overcome, but fear keeps holding him back. It takes some intuition and some self-reflection for Nate to take the risk to share his truth. I really liked his mom and I loved Sadie. Theo’s friends were hilarious and I’m sure they are going to be the subjects of the other books in this series. Not a ton of new ground covered here, but the guys were sweet and got their HEA after being helped along 😉 Recommended.
RATING: 
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