What Love Looks Like

When Ireland voted to let gay people get married, my stepdad hugged me and said, 'Your turn next, Ben! Get yourself a boyfriend. Make us proud.' So I decided to try. Ben is 17, gay, and happy most of the time. He's finished school and is on track to a great career - all that's missing is falling in love. Romantic but a little naïve, Ben meets Peter online. But the guy of his dreams is still in the closet, his pal Soda is suddenly more interested in nights in than nights out, and his old school bully seems determined to ruin his life. Then, on top of everything else, his best friend, Chelsea, goes AWOL - just when he needs her most. Everything is changing and Ben's not sure what to do. But change brings all kinds of possibilities. You just have to be ready to see them. Can Ben navigate the pitfalls of modern gay dating, with all its highly sexualised expectations, and be true to himself?

Jarlath Gregory is from Crossmaglen, Co Armagh, and currently lives in Stoneybatter, Dublin. He is the author of Snapshots (2001), G.A.A.Y One Hundred Ways to Love a Beautiful Loser (2005), and The Organised Criminal (2015). He has also worked as a bookseller in Chapters Bookstore, and written for Attitude, Esquire and GCN magazines. He recently completed the M.Phil in Creative Writing in Trinity College Dublin and currently works as a freelance copywriter.