Gone Astray (Adventures INK Book 3)
Gone Astray
Mercy Celeste
Copyright
Gone Astray is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2019 by Mercy Celeste and MJC Press
ISBN 13: 978-1-945444-10-4
ISBN 10: 1-945444-10-X
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Mercy Celeste and MJC Press
Warning: No part of this book may be reproduced in any way without written permission, except for brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
eBooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared, or given away, as it is an infringement on the copyright of this book.
If you find this book at any site not designated by the publisher you are supporting book piracy.
Contact the publisher for further information: https://mercyceleste.com/
Table of Contents
Gone Astray
Copyright
A Word from Mercy
Acknowledgments
The Adventures INK series
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Epilogue
About Mercy Celeste
Recent Books by Mercy Celeste
A Word from Mercy
I started writing the third and final book in The Adventures INK series at the end of May 2018 because I needed to know what happened while Zack and Brian were figuring things out in the Caribbean. I just plopped these two guys in the middle of a domestic dispute that spiraled into scandal and then just left them.
Troy and Hunter didn’t even have last names. They were just two dudes, who seemed to be lousy friends. But were they?
What happened to Troy and Hunter after they sent that video out? Did they just carry on with their lives as if nothing had happened? Did they ruin Veronica’s life and get away with it? What about Brian and Zack? Did that video damage Brian’s life? What… What? I needed to know.
But something went astray while I wrote this book.
Massively, astray.
The entire Florida Gulf Coast area where I set a portion of this story doesn’t even exist anymore.
I stopped writing Gone Astray in early October, after Hurricane Michael destroyed Mexico Beach, and Panama City… and my hometowns, Sneads and Grand Ridge… and the town where I was born, Marianna. My entire world is gone now, it seems.
Recovery for Mexico Beach may never happen. It is now a memory.
As you read Troy and Hunter’s story and their memories of a pivotal time in their lives, keep in mind that, though, those memories are fictitious, mine are not. My heart is broken for my home state and the lost memories of my youth.
Please donate to help rebuild the Florida Panhandle, if you can. https://rdcrss.org/2k24fiB
Thank you,
Mercy
Acknowledgments
Cover art by Jay Aheer
@ https://www.simplydefinedart.com/
Dedication
To my readers. And my fans.
Thanks for sticking with me.
The Adventures INK series
Match Day book 1
Long Way book 2
Gone Astray book 3
Series should be read in order.
Chapter One
Weddings always had Hunter sweating like a whore in church. There was something about this particular wedding, that had Hunter soaking through his shirt. And his jacket.
People turned to look at him. Their eyes narrowed. People he’d known most of his life wouldn’t meet his gaze today. He’d been out and out snubbed, twice.
For the most part, he was, thankfully, ignored. But people were whispering. He caught snatches of conversation over the music but couldn’t make sense of it.
The pastor walked in from the rectory, bringing a hush over the congregation. He looked around, but didn’t seem too happy with what he saw.
Hunter couldn’t see what was going on in the lobby. The pastor raised his arm and tapped his watch before returning to the rectory.
When he was gone people started whispering again. Hunter caught enough to know that neither the bride nor the groom had yet to arrive. And the glances his way that he’d thought he’d imagined, became glares.
Hunter felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and ignored it. Poor Zack. Maybe he finally grew a set and came to his senses before he made the biggest mistake of his life.
Or maybe the bride... Bile rose in his throat as bits and snatches of last night came back to haunt him.
Zack’s bachelor party was last night. He remembered that much. He’d gone. But fuck if he remembered Zack being there.
Troy was. That’s for damn sure. Looking tanned and toned and not a day over twenty. But that was Troy, All-American-Boy-Next-Door… if the people next door were filthy rich. Troy exuded youth, beauty, and wealth. Of course, he’d been there. With some hot piece of ass already crawling all over him.
Something about that girl—
The pastor came out again before Hunter could remember what it was about that girl that had him… shaking in his sweaty suit.
Every eye in the room seemed to follow the pastor’s gaze to the lobby and the commotion brewing just out of sight.
The double doors opened wide at that moment. Instead of a bridal party waiting to march down the aisle, there was only the groom. And the best man holding him up. Both Zack and Brian looked hungover. And as if the church was the last place either of them wanted to be.
Brian?
What was it about Brian that tickled the back of his mind? They’d been friends for years. Not like Brian and Zack were friends. But close enough that one day he expected to be a groomsman for Brian, of that he was certain. Not that he and Zack weren’t close.
From what Hunter could tell the wedding party was small. Probably because Zack had no family. While Brian, Troy and himself seemed to be the only friends invited. And Troy hadn’t bothered to slow up.
Brian hadn’t shaved this morning. Which, well, that was Brian most of the time. But if he was supposed to be the best man at his best friend’s wedding, the least he could do was to show up looking presentable. As it was, his resemblance to a certain British Prince during his scruffy stage was overwhelming. The red hair and freckles would be cute on some guys, but with that body, and the square jaw and smoldering eyes... The smolder that was all for Zack… Brian was—
Gay!
It hit him hard. The memory. Almost like a fist to the gut.
Brian… is gay!
Since the fuck when?
The truth of it more than what he saw with his own eyes. There was something more. Something... Darker. The realization like something from a bad dream come back to haunt him.
The whispering started again. Buzzing through the audience like a swarm of wasps with a juicy morsel.
The bride wasn’t coming.
Zack had been jilted. Poor guy.
Sagging against his best friend, Zack seemed almost relieved as his life fell apart. Hunter couldn’t feel bad for him. Not really. He had Brian to lean on.
And Brian was anything but oblivious. His eyes turning scary hard as he glanced over the sea of faces... Judging them. Judging Zack... As if they couldn’t see the love shining in his eyes a moment before.
It had been years since Hunter had spent much time with Brian. He’d run off to California freshman year of college and never came back. Hunter hadn’t been around then and didn’t know he’d gone. But they’d gotten together a few times over the years. The four of them. Brian and Zack and Troy and Hunter… but not long enough to do more than catch up before they went back to their lives. Brian in California, the rest of them in Atlanta.
And because Brian was gone, Zack got messed up with Brian’s bitch of a younger sister.
What the hell was her name? Hunter looked at the invitation in his hand. Veronica.
Yeah, that was her. Hot. Seriously hot. And high maintenance. Too hot and too high maintenance for Zack.
Not that he was judging his friend... Okay, yeah. Zack wasn’t exactly the type girls like Veronica went for, Zack was… well, more of a chunk than a hunk.
Not that Hunter had a problem with fat guys. Or even thought that Zack was fat. Hell, Zack had a pretty face and kind eyes to go with an oversized body. He was a nice guy. Period. No ego. No artifice. With brains. And Hunter found that more attractive than… anything.
Zack was a super smart, sweet teddy bear of a guy. And quiet. Very quiet. In that nerd kind of way girls like Veronica O’Daly made fun of in school.
But… Zack had inherited a small fortune when his parents died. And that was exactly why... Ronnie... They called her Ronnie—
Oh, Jesus, Fucking, Christ.
A face washed in his memory.
The need to vomit hit him hard.
The girl on Troy last night—
Troy was everything Zack wasn’t. Gorgeous, vain, richer than God. Of course, she’d go for Troy. And Troy always had a way of getting Hunter involved. Whether he wanted to have sex with… Troy—
Oh, fuck!
Sitting right there in that church... In front of God and everyone… Hunter remembered every sordid little detail of last night.
Troy was drunk when Hunter got to the club. And drunker still when they’d ended up at that chick’s house, not that Hunter was sober. Sober enough to keep Troy from driving. But Troy insisted and... Hunter never could seem to resist Troy when he wanted to get laid.
By the time his clothes come off, Hunter was drunk out of his mind. Not so drunk he cared about Troy and her going at it on the couch... As long as someone— Troy’s mouth on his cock clear as a bell now... And... Oh. God!
He doubled over in the pew. The urge to vomit too strong to fight now. Oh, God. He’d invited Brian to join them. To fuck his sister.
Zack’s bride.
The one Brian threatened... the one who... Called him gay. While Troy sucked him off and made him—
Oh, God.
“Excuse me.” He crawled out of the pew. Every eye following him as he escaped the packed church. His name drifting from whispered conversations as he ran.
He pushed through the lobby, past the wedding party. Brian’s glare etched into Hunter’s retinas as he rushed out into the cool morning air.
Hunter made it to the street and was passing the white limo, that would take the happy couple to the airport when he lost his battle with his stomach.
Rumor had it that Zack had spent a fortune on a luxury cruise.
Why that mattered to him, while he held onto a wrought-iron fence, surrounding a graveyard, was beyond Hunter. Why any of this mattered baffled the hell out him.
He was still leaning over the fence when Brian helped Zack out of the church. He tried to lead him off in a different direction, but Zack headed straight for the limo. Leaving Brian behind... and... unhappy.
Join the fucking club, buddy.
Hunter’s phone vibrated in his pocket. Again. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve and wondered if the reception would still happen. He needed a little hair of the dog to get through this.
At ten in the morning.
He checked the time on his phone. Ten thirty. This whole fiasco should have been a done deal by now. Good old Zack would have been the first one of them to tie on the ball and chain. If Brian hadn’t walked in on Zack’s fiancée in a Devil’s Triangle… with Troy and...
The phone buzzed again and this time he checked it. There were about a hundred notifications on Twitter. More than that on Facebook. And his text messages had blown sky-high. Troy called. Again. And oh, fucking hell.
While he checked his phone, people started spilling out of the church. Checking their phones... like everyone did after being trapped in hellfire and damnation central. He heard his name clear as a bell. And Troy’s. It was their fault the bride hadn’t shown.
It was the hangover. That’s right. He could still taste the tequila. Hell, he could smell tequila oozing from his pores.
None of this had anything to do with him.
Everything was completely normal.
Except—
He’d had sex with the missing bride. And his best friend—
And—
Where the hell was Troy, anyway?
Brian climbed out of the limo and watched as the limo drove off. His head lowered; his shoulders drooping. A lavender portfolio clutched in one hand. His phone in the other.
And just when Hunter had himself convinced that he wasn’t paranoid, Brian turned to face him.
Hunter’s guts dropped into his nut sack.
Brian snatched him by the lapels, his phone, pressing into Hunter’s chin. He pulled Hunter close. Too close. Close enough to—
“You fucking asshole. I seriously ought to put your head through that fence.”
Why the fucking hell did Hunter have this sudden, intense desire to know what his good buddy Brian tasted like?
The furious gleam in Brian’s eyes telling him that was the furthest thing from Brian’s mind.
Murder seemed more likely. His. At Brian’s hands.
“Bri? What the hell?” Hunter didn’t fight him off or push him away. He stood there, letting Brian breathe furiously in his face, and tried not to throw up on him. Because he deserved the ass beating that was coming to him.
“You sent that video out? Are you insane?” Anger raced through his friend’s eyes and Hunter’s guts did a dance that had nothing to do with the hangover.
“What video? What the hell are you talking about?” Panic clawed at every part of his body. He didn’t have to ask, he knew. “I didn’t send any video.”
Brian released his lapels and held up his phone. He pressed play and there it was. In all its grainy horrifying glory. Twenty minutes of hard-core porn, starring Troy and him, with Brian’s sister. Complete with Ronnie outing Brian to the whole freaking world... While Troy sucked his dick.
Sheer unadulterated terror washed over Hunter. At the look on his own face when Troy made him come. And the words that came out of his mouth. Begging Troy… for... Oh, god. Cold fear clawed at his guts, ripping him open. But he forced himself to meet Brian’s livid gaze. “I didn’t send this. Why would I send this?”
“It came from your phone, Hunter.” Brian turned off his phone and stepped away. He turned his back on Hunter and stared down the street where the limo had disappeared. Hunter followed his gaze, only to see people milling around the churchyard. Watching them and gossiping.
About them.
Jesus!
“I swear to God, Brian. I didn’t send it. I would never send that. That was me begging my best friend to fuck me. Even drunk, I wouldn’t have wanted that out there. Fucking Troy! I’m ruined, Bri
an. Me. Not you. No one will believe her now. Not after what she did.”
“And you were right there doing it with her.” Brian reminded him.
Hunter leaned against the fence and closed his eyes. As if that would make this nightmare vanish. “Are you... What she said...” Maybe he was putting the last nail in the coffin holding their friendship together. But he had to know. “Are you gay, Brian?”
Brian didn’t answer. He stood there staring after that limo. The way he’d looked after it was all the answer Hunter needed. “You are. And you’re in love with Zack— I guess that makes sense.”
Brian shrugged as if none of it mattered anymore.
“Are you gay?” Brian tossed the words at him, reminding Hunter of the words he’d heard himself say. The look in his eyes when he finally met Hunter’s gaze... There was no accusation there. Only resignation and a touch of sadness.
Hunter averted his eyes and shook his head, denying... Everything.
“Last night... That was the alcohol. I’ve never been with a man.” Unless Troy counted. He and Troy had fucked together so many times he’d lost count. But they’d never fucked each other, or even touched each other. Until last night. But no way in hell was he about to unpack all that baggage, out here on the street, in front of a graveyard.
“You keep telling yourself that.” Brian bent to retrieve the portfolio he’d dropped. “One day you might believe it.”
Hunter ignored him. There was nothing to tell. To himself or anyone else.
“Are those Veronica’s tickets?” Maybe there was a god. And maybe sometimes things happened for a reason. Maybe this was one of those times. “If you love Zack. And I think you do. He will need someone after he sees that video. And if I know Troy, he made damn sure Zack got it. He’s a vindictive prick like that.”
Brian clutched the portfolio to his chest, almost as if it was precious. “He gave me Ronnie’s tickets. In case she changed her mind. I can’t use them if that’s what you’re thinking. They’re not in my name.”