It’s
the quiet ones who are the most dangerous.
Houston is used to being the official
wallflower of Flint’s EMS community. Not only has he grown up that way, because
he was always so soft-spoken, but he was usually too busy cleaning up his
twin’s messes to have time to worry about anything else. Then, when his twin
falls in love, Houston finds himself alone and floundering as he tries to
adjust to all the changes.
Born and raised in Flint, Rich knows how
hard life can be. When he joins the police force, he becomes even more jaded.
The last thing he expects is to find himself attracted to is one of the biggest
brats in the city. Sure, most people think Houston is meek and quiet, but
they’ve never seen the real side of the medic like Rich has.
Then Houston makes the mistake of pissing
off the most dangerous criminal in Flint and Rich finds himself rushing to the
rescue. Will Rich be in time to save Houston, or will they both end up tagged
and bagged?
Blurb:
Since her driveway was full, he had to park
in the street. Even at that distance and with the rain, he could still hear the
noise from the house. There was loud music, cat-calls, and some whistles. Most
telling of all were the screams of, “Come on, Houston, shake it baby!”
Rich braced himself before he opened the
door and let himself in. He walked into the living room and burst out laughing.
Houston had taken cover in one corner of
the living room. His brown hair sported several cowlicks, most of which looked
as if they were made by somebody pulling on it. His hands were cuffed in front
of him, but he still had his cell clutched in his fingers. Almost as if was his
only lifeline.
He stood slightly, and Rich could see the
guy’s red shirt was torn and stretched at the collar, and the fly of his jeans
were undone. The funniest thing of all was the fact that Houston only wore one
battered tennis shoe. The other foot was clad only in a sock that was halfway
off.
Haley spotted Rich and lifted up a cup in
greeting. “Rich! Thank God you’re here. We have a naughty boy who won’t
cooperate.”
“Yeah, spank him, officer,” another voice
called.
Houston took a step toward Rich, only to
pull back when one of the ladies grabbed his pants and tried to pull them down.
“How many times do I have to tell you? I am
not a stripper,” Houston shouted as he jumped back.
“Then why did you come to a bachelorette
party with nothing but your cute ass and a set of handcuffs?” somebody yelled.
“Because Haley said she wanted me to give
you guys a magic show.” Houston used his cuffed hands to bat away a few of the
more touchy gals.
Rich gave Haley a really? Look. “Tell me
you did not trick him into coming here?”
She grinned and gave a shrug. “It was so
easy to do, too. He’s way too trusting.”
“How did that become a character flaw?”
Houston demanded.
“The second you found yourself cuffed and
at the mercy of a house full of woman,” Rich replied.
Whoever
said that things need to get worse before they could get better probably had no
idea just how bad worse really is.
While mostly physically healed from a gay
bashing that almost left him dead, Taylor is still an emotional mess. Not only
does he have to deal with the fact that his own brother was one of the
attackers, but Taylor has been disowned by his father as well. The only bright
spot in Taylor’s life is his small group of friends, but even they have their
own issues. Christian is now angry all the time. James has to deal with his own
homophobic father. Devlin is wondering if he’ll ever be able to measure up to
others’ expectations. Worst of all, Andy seems to be walking down a path that
will only lead to his destruction. Can the Haven House Coffee Boys overcome all
their obstacles? Or will the darkness overcome them?
Blurb:
As they walked inside, Taylor couldn’t help
but notice the number of conversations that stopped as they passed. It made him
feel awkward and embarrassed at the same time.
“I feel like I’m wearing a sign that says
victim on it,” Taylor grumbled.
Devlin came rushing over and put an arm
around Christian’s shoulders. “Just flip them off. That’s what I would do.”
Taylor smiled, happy to see his friend.
“You would flip off the Pope.”
“Only if he ticked me off.”
Devlin tilted head down and playfully
nibbled on Christian’s neck.
“Gah.” Taylor pretended to cover his eyes.
“I don’t know what’s stranger, seeing you in a good mood or the fact that you
two are actually a couple.”
“I say both of them are disgusting,” Andy
said as he came over and started walking on the other side of Taylor.
Taylor realized they’d been waiting for him
to arrive, and they’d made sure to be there to walk in with him. It made him
love his friends all the more. Then they turned the corner, and Taylor spotted
somebody waiting by his locker.
“James,” Taylor breathed.
The stress of having to face his classmates
must have gotten to Taylor because all of a sudden his heart pounded a little
harder in his chest. Or maybe it was just because he’d never seen James look so
sad…so vulnerable…so lost.
James glanced up from under the fringe of
his dark hair, his blue eyes rimmed with red, like he’d been crying. It tore at
Taylor to think of how much James must be beating himself up over the whole
situation. It was hard enough to come out as it was, but James had basically
done it in front of the whole school.
Before he even realized it, Taylor rushed
toward James. His friend let out a soft sob as he wrapped his arms around
Taylor in a hug. There was a bit of pain, since his ribs were still tender, but
Taylor didn’t care. He enjoyed being in James’s warm embrace and that was all
that mattered.
“I’m so sorry,” James whispered.
“It’s okay. I still love you.”
As they continued to hold each other,
Taylor realized that James needed the hug just as much if not more than he did.
So, he just stood there and let James take in the comfort. It was several
moments before James pulled away.
“Are we okay now?” James asked as he
shuffled his feet.
“Of course we are.”
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