Happy New Year, everyone! (Hey, it’s still January!)

Getting the year off to a start has been a bit of a challenge, but things are looking good! Just released is my newest collection, Those Grandville Guys, which brings together all the current Grandville stories and adds two new ones to the mix.

Today’s clip is from one of those new stories, Double Team. We first met Jerry and Noah as Noah told their story, The Pickup Game, and we now hear from Jerry, as he and Noah explore a new dimension of their developing relationship:

My trigonometry assignment was turning into Swahili, and I was two degrees from banging my head on the desk in frustration when Noah came crashing into our dorm room. His backpack and text books flew across the space, thumping loudly against the wall.

“That damn Rufus Sherman is at it again!”

“What has your not-so-secret admirer done this time?” I struggled to keep from grinning. Noah is just so cute when he’s angry.

“I’m in the library, studying for my Differential Equations exam, and Sherman sits down across from me.”

“So? There are worse things to look at.” Tall, dark, handsome—and able to be outsmarted by a bag of gravel—Rufus Sherman was the archetype of the dumb jock and, admittedly, the last person I’d expect to be showing up in the library.

“So?” Noah’s voice slid up a full octave. “He started rubbing his foot on my leg, making straight for my crotch!”

Ever since he’d met Noah at a fraternity party, Rufus had had a total crush on him. I choked back a snicker.

Noah glared at me. “It’s not funny!”

I tried my best to look stern. “What did you do?”

“I moved, of course.” Noah sat on his side of our beds. “Then he followed me.”

“Did you talk to him?” I knew that Rufus was harmless—although an outrageous flirt, he was a total bottom, who’d exploded out of the closet when he arrived at Grandville.

“Yes! I told him to leave me alone!”

“Playing hard-to-get will only egg him on,” I warned.

“I’m not playing hard to get!”

I had to indulge my inner theater queen: “Methinks the lady doth protest too much.”

 “Don’t quote Shakespeare at me!” Melodramatically, Noah flopped back against the pillows, flinging an arm across his face. “Why did you guys have to pledge him?”

“He’s a legacy! His father is Lambda Chi; his uncle is Lambda Chi; his grandfather is Lambda Chi—and donated a building! We couldn’t not pledge him!” The fact that Rufus was an All-Conference running back for Grandville’s football team didn’t hurt either—he was a pretty big feather in Lambda Chi’s cap.

“I know. I’m not blaming you.” Noah sighed. “He’s a nice guy—and, God knows, he’s good-looking—but he won’t take ‘no’ for an answer!”

“Well…” I considered the possible ramifications of my next words. They could leave me hanging from a really flimsy limb. Ah, fuck it, I thought. “Then say, ‘Yes.'”

Thanks for reading! Be sure to check out the other Seductive Studs and Sirens here.

To pick up a copy of Those Grandville Guys, visit one of these retailers:

All Romance eBooks  |  Amazon  |  Etsy  |  Smashwords

‘Til next time!