Casius Jenz and Drake Swayze were friends going through the police academy. Drake always knew Casius was gay, but that never impacted their friendship. That is, until the evening the Casius told Drake that he loved him, and Drake rejected him in anger. Now eleven years later, Drake is a famous action-movie actor, and Casius is a bodyguard. Neither has forgotten the other, and both look back on that fateful night with sadness and regret.

When Drake has the opportunity to hire Casius as his bodyguard, he jumps at the chance. He has finally admitted to himself and to the world that he is gay, and he hopes to make up for his treatment of his friend in the past. But will Casius forgive him and give him another chance? A decade is a long time to nurse the pain of a broken heart.

Torro Cruz’s short story Loving the Boss is a story of love, regret, and forgiveness. The two main characters – Casius and Drake – can both be considered “alpha” males, and a conflict between them promises to be combustible. Unfortunately, the story does not quite live up to this promise. The characters felt a little stiff, the wording used in the story strikes me as awkward, and the conflict between the two instead of being sexy or emotional just feels a little off to me. Perhaps this is because I am always looking for an element of romance in a story, but that element does not truly exist here. Avowals of love between the two characters fall flat instead of eliciting a feeling of romance. While overall Loving the Boss did not work for me, it is still nice to read a story about friends finding each other again and forgiving years of hurt and regret.

Reviewed by: Whitney