blurb:
When
he gets super-endurance powers out of nowhere, being a culinary student
and kids’ soccer coach isn’t enough for Beau Warren--he has to be a
superhero too. A sweet, hardworking trans man from a close knit family,
it’s important to Beau to use his new abilities to stand up for people
who can’t protect themselves. When he runs into a speedster at a fire
rescue, he doesn’t expect it to be his high school crush, Vel
Chandrasekhar. Turns out Vel got superspeed when Beau go his endurance,
so they decide to make their single supe act into a duo.
With
their immediate attraction and superpowered libidos, it’s not long
before Beau and Vel are roommates-with-benefits. That’s the idea,
anyhow, if only Beau can keep from falling back into his old crush hard,
since Vel’s self-esteem issues have left him skittish about
relationships. Just when things are at boiling point between them,
though, their search for their own superhero origin story leads them and
their families into mortal danger. The only way to survive the truth is
to depend on each other--and admit they’re a lot more than friends.
excerpt:
“Yeah,
they’re good kids,” Beau said, leaning in to show pictures of his
soccer team to her on the phone. His accent had gotten thicker as time
went on, dropping all his g’s, even an unironic ain’t slipping in here
and there.
Which,
to be frank, was starting to drive Vel crazy. In a good way—or a way
that would’ve been good if they hadn’t been surrounded by church ladies
at a crowded picnic. Usually Beau suppressed the accent…except in bed.
“That
one there, Ella, she’s just about as shy as she can be. Took her
forever to actually go after the ball, because she didn’t want to take
it from anyone. Near about drove me crazy, because she’s fast. I think
she could go to school for it if she keeps up. That or track.”
Was
it getting hotter out here? Maybe it was the barbecue. Or maybe it was
Vel’s sudden urge to cross his legs. Which he did. God, this was so
wildly inappropriate, but he couldn’t help it. He had associations with
that accent.
Beau
gave Vel a passing glance over his phone, then quickly did a
double-take. A sly grin crept up on his face after a moment of dawning
realization. “How you doin’ over there, Vel? All right? We leavin’ you
out of the conversation?”
“Nah,
I’m—I’m good.” Vel coughed and shot a you-dick look at Beau. Didn’t
last long, though. He loved it when dude was a little shit—ugh, not
helping. “Just, you know. Attentive listening and all.”
Beau
chuckled, looking more than a little bit smug. “All right, then. You
just let me know if I can do anything for you, now. Get you some more
food or something.”
“Or
something.” Vel tried to look exasperated. And crossed his legs a
little tighter. Oh God, this guy was gonna get it…which was exactly what
Beau wanted, but still.
Beau
grinned, then made a show of checking his watch. “Damn, look at the
time. We’ve gotta be getting some food to Davy if we want to get home
before too late.” He leaned in to gently kiss the woman’s white hair.
“It was good to see you, Aunt Nora. I’ll try and come back real soon,
okay?”
About
ten minutes later, they’d filled up a container with food and said
their good-byes to the sweet old ladies, plus about a hundred other
people who wanted to fawn over Beau. Thankfully, the problem in Vel’s
pants dissipated about as quickly as it had come on, so he managed to
smile and not look totally distracted. Even when he was standing behind
Beau. Trying not to look at that fine ass. Inappropriate, inappropriate!
Problem
was, everything about Beau made Vel feel…inappropriate. This was a bad
place for it, though. A bad place to be affectionate, a bad place to
look at him like that. Not just because it was weird, but because it
could lead to an ass-kicking, possibly involving a cane, when it came to
light that there was no boyfriend thing happening here.
And
there couldn’t be. Because reasons. Reasons of Vel being a huge fuck-up
and Beau being a sweet, delicate flower, okay? Sex and friendship.
Lots of both. Like, lots.
Which
was totally why, when they got around the corner toward the parking
lot, Vel spun and backed Beau against the nearest wall. “You fucking
brat!” Vel grinned hugely before laying a big kiss on him. Tease him in
the middle of a church picnic, huh?
Beau
laughed into Vel’s mouth, his hand going into Vel’s hair. “Damn right.”
He let his head drop back against the wall, his arm heavy around Vel’s
shoulders. “I think you like it,” he said and spread his knees wide
enough for Vel to lean in between them.
Vel
fitted his hips into Beau’s, wedging between his legs so he could feel
just how much Vel liked it. The quick-boner thing could be a drawback,
but sometimes it was kinda nice. He bit at Beau’s bottom lip. “What am I
gonna do with you? You and this dirty Southern-boy mouth of yours?”
Seriously, though, that accent…why was it even hot? Fuck.
Beau
groaned at the bite and rocked very slightly against Vel’s hips, eyes
closed on an exhale. “Pretty sure I can think of something we can do
with my mouth.” His words were barely more than a breath against Vel’s
lips before he kissed him, openmouthed and dirty.
Only to freeze at the sound of a throat being cleared behind them.
“Aunt
Nora,” Beau said, his voice horrified as he turned about eight shades
of red. Vel had to bite his bottom lip to keep from laughing outright as
Beau stuttered, “I-uh. This is, uh…”
“You left your phone on the table.” She sounded entirely too amused.
Vel
pushed off the wall, still biting his lip, and sort of wedged himself
behind Beau. It was either that or adjust his obvious erection right in
front of a sweet elderly lady. He met her gaze, though, and gave a
little shrug and a what-can-you-do kind of grin.
“I-oh.
Uh. Thanks, that’s— I need that, yeah. Thanks.” Beau took the few steps
to Aunt Nora like they were painful, then took the phone and slipped it
into his ass pocket. “Thanks.”
“Of course, dear.” She gave them both a pointed look. “Now, I think you two ought to head home.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Beau said immediately and then just looked more embarrassed for it. “Thank you.”
Vel was outright smirking by then. “Nice meeting you, ma’am.”
Beau
hightailed it to the car, practically dragging Vel with him. Once they
were in, he carefully set his food on the dash and slowly lowered his
forehead to the steering wheel. “Oh my God.” His face was a bright,
violent red.
Vel, of course, couldn’t stop giggling. “Oh my God, ofcourse the sweet church lady caught us at it! Day complete!”
“Nooo,” Beau whined, though he was starting to laugh too. “This is terrible. She’s known me since I was wearing diapers.”
He
dropped his head back against the rest and looked at Vel for a long
moment. Slowly his blush faded away, and he grinned. “I was having fun
before that, though.” His drawl was back. “Want me to finish?”
No comments:
Post a Comment