The Next Twenty

by Margaret Mills

Stan Winston is a late-middle-aged man who has spent his life being part King Midas and part lounge lizard, happily increasing his wealth as he schmoozed women and lived his life large. He's been drifting for a while, though, until buddy Jeremy North, just three days out of military service, appears on Stan’s doorstep with a couple of bombshells to he’s gay, and he’s kissing Stan—right now. Between Stan’s first, defensive reaction and the moment that kiss ends, Stan realizes something very Jeremy might be what he's been missing his entire life.

A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2010 Advent Calendar package "Naughty or Nice".

Genres: M M Romance, Holiday, Romance, Christmas, Short Stories, Contemporary, Military Fiction

52 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2010

About the author

Margaret Mills is a professional technical writer and editor; branching into narrative fiction seemed like a natural extension of the pleasure that writing has always been for her. A California resident, Maggie enjoys hiking in the nearby hills, reading, walking the dog on the beach, and writing with her co-author, Tedi Ward. Maggie met Tedi in a writers' group, and their personalities mix almost as well as their characters' do; they enjoy writing the kinds of stories they love to read.

Her most exciting adventure involved a brief but thrilling skydiving habit. Her next exciting adventure involves a trip to Yosemite National Park where she'll be hiking Half Dome with her husband of twenty-five years.

Reviews

[Deeze · Rating 2 out of 5]

Apart from the mentioning that its Christmas there was no feeling of this being a Christmas story.

I had a problem seeing how these guys got together considering the age gap, and the fact ones been in the army for 20 years. No chemistry at all for me. I also found the switching between Stan calling him Jamie but the author calling him Jeremy a little off putting.

Overall there was nothing bad about this story, but there was nothing really good about it for me either.

[Ebook Addict Reviews]

Despite their more than 20 year age difference, Stan Winston and Jeremy North have been friends for a decade or more after meeting on one of Stan’s outdoor adventures. At 56, Stan is prosperous and settled in a lifestyle that financial security allows. After 20 years as a career soldier, Jeremy North has left the army and visits Stan on a dual mission — to figure out what he’ll be doing with the next twenty years of his life and to come out to his friend. Stan’s shrugged acceptance of Jeremy’s gay revelation lands him a crushing lip lock from his ‘old’ friend and much more. The more is an instantaneous realization that Jeremy North is exactly what Stan’s been missing in his life.

The author never relates or implies that Stan has had any m/m sexual experiences or feelings, yet there is no angst, surprise or confusion at this dramatic change in this mature man’s life. We only witness Stan’s excitement and immediate acceptance of his lifestyle change and, as time passes, his increasing awareness of the age difference and that his body is not the rock hard echo of his lovers. Stan’s journey of self discovery is more cerebral than vocal. Translated — he thinks in his head a lot and that’s how the author conveys to the reader this character’s feelings and notable events. We learn of Stan coming out to his friends as if in a movie — it happens off camera (off page). Still, “The Next Twenty” is a loving tale of two men coming together after years of casual yet heartfelt friendship. Watching them grow in their love and acceptance of each other was worth the read.


J

[Maygirl7 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it probably more than I should have considering the issues I had with it.

There was a lot more telling than showing which I think is better writing, though it worked surprisingly well considering the story broke that rule.

The thing that bothered me the most was that the straight MC (Forgot his name already. Stan?) was straight and his friend out of the blue plants a kiss on him and he's like "Why am I not getting pissed off? Oh well, this feels good so who cares." Then the story skips months into the future and doesn't deal with at all with MC #1 switching teams so to speak. In retrospect it bothers me the more I think about it.

Aftertaste: Puzzled pleasure.

PS This is definitely not one of those guilty pleasures GFY.

[Bellbomb Bellbomb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Margaret Mills' wry humor and very authentic voice in Gideon and Jedediah's series. To me her sense of humor equals Josh Lanyon's even, although not as cynical. The language is plain but the way she delivers it makes her writing almost poetic with humane themes to think about. This story about 2 lovers with a huge age difference who have just discovered that their future happiness lies within each other after having been friends for 10 years is heart melting. There is no drama or exciting plot twist, but every conversation and every little innuendo about what could-have-been or could-have-been-missed really touches me. They are deep and real. I just wish she wrote more because I can never get enough writing of this quality.

[Serena Yates · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this short story about two men who have known and liked each other for a long time before Jeremy's discharge from the Army enables them to get a lot closer. There isn't a whole lot of open emotion between them, which fits well with their characters. But as the story develops, their love for each other becomes very clear in the same understated way that their relationship progresses from purely sexual to something more. A nice, quiet read that made me feel good.

[blub · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice short tale about an older gentlemen and his young recently discharged army friend taking their relationship beyond just friendship and finding out just how deep their feelings are for each other.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good short m/m holiday romance about a straight guy in his 50s, who discovers that a good friend, freshly retired from the military, is gay and has been attracted to him for years.

[JenMcJ]

to-read

[Jeremy Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good story and enjoyable