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    The Other Side of the Roses
    The Other Side of the Roses
    The Other Side of the Roses
    Ebook82 pages1 hour

    The Other Side of the Roses

    By R. Cooper

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    About this ebook

    Sami is twenty-seven and happy to live at home with his family, even if he is a little lonely and dissatisfied with his job at a nursing home. Caring for people is what Sami does. Unfortunately, putting his loved ones first is also part of the reason Sami is single. As accepting as his parents are, he isn’t sure how they’d react if he brought home a boyfriend. So he spends more time than he should dreaming of what might be, and fighting with his younger sister over the perfect sunny spot on the couch. Which is probably why the perfect potential boyfriend chooses that moment to move in across the street.

    There’s just one problem—his new neighbor isn’t really new. He’s the son of the woman Sami’s mother has had a feud with for years. Toby and Sami grew up together but were never allowed to say more than a few words to each other despite Sami’s repeated efforts. Quiet, serious Toby was Sami’s first and biggest crush, and everyone knew it—a big part of their reason their mothers didn’t get along. Toby’s mother went as far as planting dozens of thorny rose bushes around her house to ensure Sami couldn’t even see Toby anymore.

    But Toby’s mother is long gone, and Toby has no interest in reviving the feud. If anything, he seems determined to end it. Finding out why, and if it has anything to do with the way he looks at Sami, means Sami will have to raise the issue with his family—and dare to step beyond the wall of roses that kept him out all those years ago.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherR. Cooper
    Release dateFeb 12, 2017
    ISBN9781370803309
    The Other Side of the Roses
    Author

    R. Cooper

    I'm a somewhat absentminded, often distracted, writer of queer romance. I'm probably most known for the Being(s) in Love series and the occasional story about witches or firefighters in love. Also known as, "Ah, yes, the one with the dragons."You can find me on in the usual places, or subscribe to my newsletter (link through website).www.riscooper.comI can also be found at...Tumblr @sweetfirebirdFacebook @thealmightyrisInstagram @riscoopsPillowfort @RCooperPatreon @ patreon.com/rcoopsBluesky @ rcooper.bsky.social

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    Reviews for The Other Side of the Roses

    4/5

    22 ratings2 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This is ADORABLE. Soft and sweet with little real conflict, but a lot of heart.
    • 5/5
      A neat novella. I don't know much about the MCs culture, but the author painted a pretty picture. Toby was adorable.

    Book preview

    The Other Side of the Roses - R. Cooper

    The Other Side of the Roses

    R. Cooper

    ©R. Cooper

    Published by R. Cooper at Smashwords 2017

    Cover art by Lyn Forester

    This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

    Special thanks to KGA, for the edit.

    Sami had only been off shift for an hour and a half, and his feet hurt. He hadn’t had time to switch shoes or even change out of his scrubs before Khaleh Nousha had turned him around at the door and demanded company while she shopped. His mother’s older sister barely reached Sami’s shoulder, and was recovering from knee surgery, but she’d pushed him toward his car with the strength of a wrestler.

    He didn’t know what she needed from the store that badly. They had been wandering through the aisles without much direction, Sami taking small steps to keep even with the red cart Aunt Nousha slowly pushed forward. So far they had a pack of pens, some notepaper, two greeting cards, and a pair of booties for one of her coworkers who had just had a baby girl.

    Sami had a feeling his aunt had been told to go for a walk to exercise her knee, and that he was there to help her if she fell or got tired, which was the reason he wasn’t complaining. That, and out of everyone in his family, Khaleh Nousha was the only one besides his younger sister, Parisa, who would pause to watch a man go by and then talk to Sami about the man’s ass in low-voiced Farsi.

    He loved his khaleh, but right now he wanted a shower and a nap. It was the time of year where he could stretch out on the living room couch in the last bit of vaguely warm afternoon springtime sun if his sister hadn’t come from school and taken that spot already. In another month, that spot would get the summer sun and Parisa would never give it up.

    If Sami had his own apartment, he wouldn’t have to squabble over space on the couch. But if he lived by himself he’d have no one to squabble with, and the only thing worse than fighting over a patch of sunlight was not having anyone to fight about it with. Besides that, what would his mother do if he left to go live by himself? Who would take care of his father, or go shopping with Khaleh Nousha? Parisa wouldn’t look up from her phone for anything short of an emergency, and his older brother and sister were both at colleges across the country.

    There were a lot of downsides to being twenty-seven and single and living with his family. Obviously, he couldn’t bring anyone home for the night, not even if he was straight, not with his maman and his baba in the house. He couldn’t exactly bring someone he’d been dating home to meet them either, or at least, he’d never attempted it. Even if he got that brave, he’d have to have a boyfriend in the first place, something he’d probably get if he moved out, which brought him back to where he’d started.

    He liked living at home for the most part. It was only when he was talking to his friends that he remembered that not every culture saw being constantly surrounded by family as a good thing.

    Sami, stop looming over me. His aunt stepped in front of him, partially cutting off his line of sight to a display of towels and bathmats. If he lived on his own, he’d have his own bathroom. Now there was something to dream about. But the primary blues and yellows of the rugs and toilet seat covers in front of him weren’t very appealing.

    Sami scoffed before focusing on Khaleh Nousha. Stop blocking my view. She was too short to block his view of anything unless it was on the ground.

    She scoffed right back, waving a hand dismissively before she turned away. You don’t like those and you don’t need them. You want a boyfriend, not a bathmat.

    She returned to the cart and was on her painstakingly slow way by the time Sami managed a Yeah, so? Then he sighed and trailed after her.

    They walked in silence through the rest of the home décor section. Not a single thing his aunt was wearing was from this store. She would never. Yet she’d taken him through the women’s clothing section anyway, and now they were window shopping for home furnishings neither of them could use. She was part of the family and living in the same house, so she didn’t need a bathmat either.

    If she wanted a boyfriend, Sami couldn’t help her. But just like his mom, she was petite and curvy, with brown eyes and dark hair a little touched with gray, and flawless eyebrows. Today she was dressed to slay in a form-fitting purple top and black skirt. If she wanted a man, she could get one by herself.

    Sami, on the other hand, was tall, six foot two in his bare feet, and in shape only because of the heavy lifting his job demanded as well as the occasional yoga class. He was wearing ugly navy blue scrubs, and the chain of his necklace had broken at work today, so there was nothing to make him feel pretty, not even a nice watch. At least his hair was looking good, since he’d had his undercut touched up a few days ago, and his chin was rough with stubble, which had earned him compliments from the old ladies at work anyway.

    He swept a hand through his hair as they passed an endcap display of full length mirrors, and his aunt rolled her eyes at him in the reflection. He gave her—and himself—a cheeky grin, although his nose was too big and that was obviously one more reason why he didn’t have a boyfriend. Big nose, lived at home, unprofessional job… Sami was going to die alone, surrounded by nieces and nephews and cousins in college who were all going to get married and look on him with pity.

    You just need to get out of the house more, Sami, his khaleh chided him, probably determining his thoughts from the way he poked his nose. Not to leave the house forever, but maybe spend time with someone not in your family. You could go back to school. That’s where your sister met her future husband.

    Yasmin had gone to school to become a doctor to make the family proud, and then found a fiancée to make the family prouder. Not coincidentally, Sami’s brother, Reza, was finishing law school, which was where he’d met his wife.

    Sami sighed heavily and stopped the cart before throwing himself across it. Someone opposite them gave him an incredulous

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