WANT cover & excerpt

I decided I wanted to let my hair down a bit and write something kinda smexy, a little dirtier than my usual. It took on a life of its own and has become a little more romancey than I thought Trevor and D ever would. But... how could they not when Trevor really wants the D and D wants him right back.

WANT

by Kade Boehme

Cover by Dar Albert

Coming May 2016

Trevor McEntire and Dante "D" Vargas have been dancing around each

other for years. D knows he shouldn't keep crossing the line with his best

friend's little brother. Trevor knows he shouldn't keep setting himself up

to be hurt by D's hot-and-cold routine. That'd be easier if every meeting, 

every taste didn't leave them still wanting more.

EXCERPT

Trevor

I had shit to do, tonight, and I was already running behind. I didn’t have time to do more than go change clothes and swap out rides. I sure couldn’t pull up in the Trans and not expect a hundred questions, most of which would be from all the other car enthusiast co-workers who’d be around that would notice more than one of the not-so-street-legal additions.

I made quick work—as quick as one could with Saturday traffic being what it was in Miami Beach—of going back to my house outside town and switching out the Trans Am for my old ‘88 Blazer. While the Trans Am was the car I’d fuck, the Blazer was the old girl I’d marry. I babied the hell out of her since I got her as a fixer upper during rehab two years earlier.

Once again I made the trek back to the city, toward the nightclub I’d be meeting my people at. My family, not the hellions I’d been running with earlier in the night. Thankfully the venue was mixed so some of this sex and fire in my blood could get burned off. I’d only just gotten inside good and made my way toward the bar before a big hand pulled on my shoulder, turning me to face a familiar face.

    “You look like you’re in a good mood,” my brother Evan said as he clapped his hand on my shoulder and pulled me into his customary bro-hug.

    I spat out the mouthful of hair I’d inhaled when he’d pulled me in. “Shit, Ev.” I pulled back, scrubbing a hand over my face to alleviate where his hair had been. “Do something with your hair.”

    He chuckled. “Sorry,” he said, not sounding very apologetic. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a black hair tie, deftly putting his shoulder-length hair up in a man bun, or douche bun as I called it. I rolled my eyes. “Don’t hate me ‘cuz my hair is luxurious,” he repeated his favorite line I always received when I gave him shit for his long locks.

    “Whatever you say, Fabio.” I turned to the bartender and ordered a Jack and Coke. After paying up, I turned to find Evan still standing, arms crossed and brow cocked. He knew better than to try to intimidate me with his size, I’d outweighed him since I moved back last year and we both stood relatively the same height, six-foot-one respectively. I didn’t know why he seemed to be trying, though, because I wasn’t brooding and I’d come to this damn bachelorette thing—not that he or my boss Jill, one of the brides, gave me much choice.

“So. You’re all smiley. What gives? Jill practically had to force you to come tonight so I was expecting more of your whole pouty-face thing.”

I most definitely was not smiley. That my being in a decent mood had him suspicious spoke to what a miserable bastard I must have been to be around lately.

“Get laid or something?”

I scoffed. I wish. Laid. It’d been a long year since that happened, but I wouldn’t discuss that with him. I barely wanted to think of the last time or my reasons for not hooking up since, much less tell Evan about it.

But I couldn’t exactly tell him why my body was thrumming with adrenaline, why my heart was pounding. The second best thing to sex to me still had me buzzed, even as my sexy Trans Am sat cooling in my garage.

“Just in a good mood.” I shrugged.

The skeptical once over he gave me ruffled my feathers. I know I wasn’t exactly a joy to be around all the time but damn, I wasn’t a miserable bastard. I didn’t have to protest though. His body relaxed almost immediately when my boss, Jillian, and her fiancee Denise walked over to greet me. He smiled broadly behind their backs when I went rigid as the tipsy brides-to-be passed out hugs and air kisses to me.

He hadn’t been entirely wrong about my not being excited to come out tonight. Not that I disliked my boss. She’d served in the middle east with Evan, had my brother’s back when it really counted, and she had given me a job, no questions asked, when I came back from Jacksonville with my auto body repair trade certificate in-hand. But the thought of getting drunk with her was awkward because she was not only my boss, but the ex of the biggest crush of my life.

And that right there was what I didn’t want to think about. Dante Vargas—D, as he was called. She’s a lesbian, so being jealous of D’s ex was a futile waste of emotion, but that they had a kid together always served as a reminder she’d had a relationship with him. And I was more jealous of that than I was the fact they’d actually been intimate.

Denise saw me squirming under my boss’s attention, Jillian excitedly telling me about all the people who’d shown up that I’d know, that she grinned like Evan but took Jillian’s hand. “Come on, sweets. Let’s let him actually see everyone that showed up.” She started pulling Jillian toward the stairs the led to the club’s upper level.

I knew I liked her.  

My brother ordered himself a beer while I sipped my Jack and Coke and got my game face on. I could do this. Everyone would be drunk. And it’s not like D’s kid would be there so the reminder they’d been together would last only as long as a drink or two before the don’t-give-a-shits really kicked in.

I scoped the dance floor of Vida, one of Miami’s newer clubs. The mixed crowd put me at ease, boys danced with boys, girls danced with girls, and straight couples peppered the crowd. The dark of the large room was only broken by the occasional strobe light and black lights that lined the ceilings and bars.

“Ready to go up?” Evan asked.

I nodded and followed as we made our way to the second of three floors. The second floor was a little brighter and slightly quieter, the music low and conversation a steady hum. I could still feel the bumping of the bass from downstairs through the soles of my Timberlands.

We made our way around the bar in the middle of the room to a table—or several tables that’d been pushed together—where a large group of familiar faces sat. I knew most everyone there, though some were new to me.

I fist bumped my way around the table, shook a few hands, greeting co-workers and some people I knew that’s served with Jillian, Evan, and D. Judging by the flushed faces all around and the general level of noise coming from everyone, I’d say the majority had imbibed more than a little in the extra hour it’d taken before I showed up.

Evan took a seat close to Jillian and Denise and pointed to the chair next to him. I sat, gratefully, and eyed the chair next to mine with a black leather jacket slung over the back. I look over to my brother in question but he’s immersed in conversation with a guy I only vaguely recognize.

I shrugged to myself and took another long drink of my Jack and Coke, letting it warm me through and build on the buzz I’m still feeling from tearing up the streets only an hour ago. I try not to be too pleased with myself, knowing any silly grins will give me away to anyone looking and I most definitely don’t need my brother, who’s been babying me too long, to get all pissy.

My thoughts were interrupted by the happy cheers erupting at the table when the chair beside me shifted. I wasn’t ready at all.

I knew my eyes must have been wide as D took a seat next to me, his characteristic flirty grin stretching wider, clearly pleased to see I’ve arrived. He sat his drink down and passed me one. “Jack and Coke right?”

Mother. Fucker.

I silently took the proffered drink from his hand and set it down on the table in front of me, doing my best not to gawp at him.

I looked accusingly at my brother and Jillian who were paying me zero attention. No one said a fucking word about D being back in town. I’d never have come out had I known.

The worst part was how viscerally I reacted to his presence, the deep down need I felt, even though I hadn’t seen him in so long. It’s like it was always there, the chemistry that flowed between us. And I was smacked over the head with it before he’d even completely settled in his seat.

I looked around the table and no one seemed to be as flummoxed by his arrival as I. I was the only one surprised by his appearance, his delivering me a drink—how had he remembered my favorite?

The conversation started back up, a couple of people drawing D in, but I couldn’t think with the heat of his body so close, the scent of his cologne drifting around us. I slammed back the last of my drink, then turned up the one he’d delivered. He never attempted to draw me into conversation, just kept smirking and looking at me from the side of his eye.

Bastard.

Thankfully one of the cute twinks in a Club Vida t-shirt came around to see if anyone needed a new drink and I ordered another. I attempted to join in my brother and Jillian’s conversation but kept zoning out. Then D moved his leg, just slightly, and his pressed against mine, touching from our boots to our knees. Right about then I was glad to have had a few drinks in my system because the heating of my body cause a flush I could blame on the whiskey.

Anger joined in the mix of adrenaline, intoxication, and arousal—anger at D’s presence, anger at his daring to flirt, and most of all anger at myself for responding so readily.

My mind flashed back on the last time I’d seen him, stretched out naked on his bed, sleeping with just his strong back and the rise of his firm ass visible, the rest of him covered in luxurious cotton sheets. I still felt a bereft devastation I couldn’t remember the previous night, not even so much as a kiss. I’d awakened in his bed, after praying and hoping for years for just one more night. But I’d slipped out after taking that mental picture, crept into the muggy pre-dawn Miami morning, and not looked back as a taxi drove me home to shower off the scent of him. I knew, as the sun rose and I fell into bed, D would have risen by then, and he never called or text messaged; he got on a plane and flew away.

And now, I wanted to be righteously indignant, but my brother couldn’t know. My boss, D’s ex and the mother of his child, most definitely could not know. And here I was, not moving my leg away, privately reveling in the way his warmth seeped into my body through our denim clad legs.
    As my cock rose to a stand, I swigged back the drink the barback had delivered and decided this madness couldn't stand.

I elbowed Evan. “Hey, I’m gonna go unwind a bit.” He spared me a brief glance and nod. Evan knew I loved clubs, loved to dance. That’s why I came out. I’d toss back a few drinks, take it to the dance floor, then crawl home. Alone. Always alone. Because D’s touch had ruined me a year ago—hell, really six years ago—and I was the idiot who kept living like a fucking monk because of it. I had no delusions that D had done the same.

Which kindled the flames of my indignation higher and fueled me on as I shoved my chair back and wandered off to the bar for a drink I most definitely did not need. I’m not a light weight, by any means. Guys my size don’t get fucked up off a couple cocktails. But the few I’d had, plus the natural high of post-race adrenaline had me feeling right.

While I finished off the drink I’d ordered I caught D’s gaze settled on me, even as he engaged others in conversation.

I dropped the drink down and went back downstairs to the dance floor. It took me less than twenty seconds of moving my hips, dancing with abandon, to have a semi-nude guy grinding on me. I loved it, the freedom, the way the music vibrated inside me. Thank goodness it was replacing that other pounding inside me, the need for D.

After a good ten minutes of steady dancing, sweating, and getting turned on by the press of my dance partner’s clothed cock pressing against mine, I had to give in to my need to piss. Before I left, the man poked out his full bottom lip, pouting sweetly then looked toward the back bathroom in an invitation I’d love to take him up on, but knew I wouldn’t.

Not yet. And certainly not with D there.

I shook my head and the guy shrugged, but before I could leave he pressed a dirty, grape-flavored liqueur kiss on my mouth, giving my cock a rub for good measure. I shuddered bodily at the feeling.

Shit. Why’d I have to be so fucking lame?

I wished I could say I wasn’t that person, the one who fixates. But I am. I wanted respect, I’d throw everything I had at getting it. If I wanted to be the best at the drag strip, I worked my ass off. If I wanted a man, I was like the lone wolf who’d imprinted on his mate. And I wasn’t sure when or how I’d done that with D, but I needed to fucking get that fixed. Because I couldn’t have D. He would be flying back to his new life in Boston after this wedding and I couldn’t let my life and my psyche be flipped upside down by the man again.

Pushing my way through the crowd I made my way to the line for the restroom. I could use any of them as there were five in the club, but I prefered the one I could lock behind me, thank you. So in line I waited. Thankfully it was a short line, this time. My turn finally came and I put my hand to hold open the door after the lady in front of me exited. She gave me a flirty smile which I did not return. But before I could go in, a palm rested on my lower back.

I turned my head to find D standing there. His eyes were half-lidded, the dark brown boring into mine, full of heat and promise that had my wide-open mouth unable to form words.

Maybe it was the booze or the music, but when he pushed me in and slammed his mouth on mine, I couldn’t protest. I didn’t even fucking want to.

    

More coming soon. ;)

<3kaderade

Simple Things: Paperback Cover Reveal, Excerpt & Giveaway

Alright! Got the first actual excerpt from Simple Things for you guys today AND a big giveaway, with ARCs and signed paperbacks and swag bags! I'm so stoked! It's my first new title of 2016 and my first new title since last fall. It feels like it's been forever, even with the SUPER DUPER successful re-release of Good Enough (can't thank y'all enough for that!).

Conference SN: for those who will be at Rainbow Book Fair here in NYC in April, I'll be selling copies there. If you'd like one for RT in Vegas, get in touch with me before March 25th.  

Gonna start with the gorgeous paperback cover reveal and blurb, then I'll go right into the excerpt, followed by the giveaway!

(cover art by JK Hogan @ KHD Graphics)

[Click Here to Pre-order] 

Carter Darling’s life has been a whirlwind since his mother was elected to the senate when he was a teen. From private school to joining the military, he tried to forge his own path while making as few ripples as possible. But an injury forced him to figure out new goals for his life. After his parents were involved a sex scandal, he decided to go back home to Tennessee to get some distance and get away from the madness. 

He didn’t bargain on Jeremy Beck returning at the same time. 

Jeremy was finally past the rich boy angst that made for some dramatic teenage years, but he hadn’t earned back much respect from his parents by playing in an indie band. Now that his band was on hiatus, Jeremy was looking for space from his unhealthy non-relationship with a band-mate, so returning home to figure out his next step seemed like the way to go. 

Their initial reunion turned awkward. Carter was still holding on to hurts from their last meeting and Jeremy was trying to convince himself that Carter was still just his sister’s closeted little friend. But when they open up to one another again and decide a staycation fling would be a nice distraction, they may get more than they bargained for. 

For two guys who’ve had so much drama in their lives, it might surprise them to find that sometimes love is found in the simple things. Who knew?

(Length: 50k words)

EXCERPT

“You can’t really be leaving,” Ella stated. “Isn’t there some big PR rule about not going MIA during scandals or you give the rumors power?”

Carter Darling snorted inelegantly and continued folding his shirts, placing them in his biggest suitcase. He didn’t plan on returning to New York City for quite a while. 

“Besides, your parents are going to flip if you take a whole semester off.”

Carter turned on his friend and roommate then. “They get absolutely zero say in how I handle their problem. They made the problem, they can damn well fix it. I’m not going to play smiling trophy child while they do it.”

Ella huffed. “Well, you can’t leave me in a lurch with the rent. That’s not fair.”

“My trust is going to wire payments to the landlord, same as always.”

Ella pulled out her phone and started texting furiously as Carter went back to his packing. “Besides, it’s my parents’ names on the lease, so if you want to move out, you’re more than free to do so.”

She huffed behind him, again. He turned on her, again. “What the fuck’s it to you, anyway? You were all team Fuck the Darlings, now you’re …” He narrowed his eyes. “Shit. Did they ask you to keep me in town?” 

She glared. “It’s nothing that nefarious. But Paul did call to see if I could talk you into backing down for a few days, see if you’d be there for your mother’s resignation speech.”

Should have known. Fucking Paul Buchanan wasn’t ready to give up his gravy train with the Darlings, yet. And Carter’s mother wasn’t ready to throw in the towel on her political career. The second coming of Hillary, they called Carrie Darling, Carter’s mother. Although, the Clinton scandal had been all on Bill. Both Carrie and Carter’s father, Wayne, had shot their political careers in the proverbial foot this time.

“How much are they paying you?”

Ella reared back. “That’s low.”

“Well, you had a price tag before when I decided to come out. What’d they get you this time?”

“Maybe,” Ella snapped, “I don’t want my friend to self-destruct. And don’t forget, you used my services as much as your parents did.”

“Let’s be clear. The only reason I let them do it was because my mom was getting ready for bigger things and I wasn’t ready to come out publicly.” Carter hated that he had to come out publicly. Most people got to just tell their folks and their friends and the hard part was over. But no. Not when your mother was the junior senator from Tennessee, looking to run for Governor and pass her seat on to your father.

They’d begged him to put off his official coming out for at least a year when he’d returned home for good, then pushed it back another six months after that. Only to have their own shit go public because they couldn’t be as “circumspect” as they’d insisted their shamefully gay son be.

“I can’t stay here. My whole life has been about them and their aspirations. I wanted to be honest, to come out. That was too much for them, though. They made me feel ashamed of myself. Now, I’m done feeling like shit, like I should hide. I want to go home and see my friends I haven’t seen in almost a decade. I want to be normal for five fucking minutes. I want to be out. I don’t want people thinking my best friend is my girlfriend.”

“What about—”

“Enough!” She blinked in surprise at his outburst. He was known for his level headedness. “Call Paul. You seem to be tight with him. And like I said, you can always move.”

“And you’ll what… come out and leave me to be the girl who got left for guys?”

Carter’s face heated, fury bubbling up inside him. “You always knew how this would turn out. It’s also why we never blatantly said we were dating. Plus, I’m small potatoes. I’m not some rock star’s kid. This’ll be a blip for a week or two, then they’ll focus on my parents.”

“You’re an idiot if you think that,” she said, crossing her arms. Carter felt the sadness settle deep in his bones. His body felt as if he’d deflated, his shoulders drooping. He’d been going non-stop since everything blew up in the Darling family’s collective faces less than twenty four hours ago. He hadn’t had to really think about his next move. He just called up an old friend from back home and she’d offered him shelter from the storm, even if he hadn’t kept in touch with her so well since he had started college three years earlier. 

He didn’t want to fight with Ella, but he hadn’t really considered the fallout for her. He’d been so absolutely done from the moment the headlines about his parents started rolling in, he’d made a plan without much more than a text to his parents saying “so long” and “fuck this.”  

Ella’s own posture lost its rigidity and she looked embarrassed. “Oh god, Carter. I’m sorry.” He held his arms out to her and she came into his embrace willingly. “Oh, how I must have sounded.”

He sighed, resting his chin on her shoulder. He wasn’t much taller than her, standing only five foot nine to her five foot seven. “No, I was a dick. I didn’t even think.”

“No. Don’t feel bad. It’s been so crazy the last couple days, I got so wrapped up in the clean-up frenzy and didn’t even think about how much this sucks for you.”

He hummed and pulled out of the hug, returning to his packing. “I can’t smile for them, not after they’ve been so cold and morally superior, making me feel like I was less-than because I dared to want to come out.” He turned to her. “I don’t want to judge them for this, but it’s hard.”

“I know,” Ella said, still shamefaced. “It’s weird, too. She’s a part of the liberal party. I still don’t really get how you coming out would have mattered.” That was a lie, though. He’d met Ella in school, but she’d interned with his mother—who said nepotism was dead?—so she had probably gotten polls and bullet pointed memos as to why Carter should keep his mouth shut. He’d sure gotten those things.

Carter frowned. “It matters. I did kind of get it. A little.” He scowled. “Fuck! See, I’m taking up for them already. I gotta… I need time away.”

She studied him closely before giving a decisive nod. “Okay. But promise me you’ll only take spring semester off. That’s eight months to get your shit together and to let this stuff with your parents blow over. If you stay out too long…”

“I can live off my trust fund.” He winked to let her know he was teasing. That was something he’d never do. He’d worked too hard to get the respect of not only his teachers, but people he’d met in the boxing world. They thought a rich kid wouldn’t cut it, but he’d busted his ass over the last several years to prove that he had the chops. He didn’t even want to think about how he’d be losing all that respect once his coming out was official.

One crisis at a time.

After a final trip to the closet and double checking that he had put his electronics in his messenger bag, he zipped up his suitcase and pulled on his favorite Yankees ball cap. 

“Do you want me to call for the car service?” Ella asked, waving her phone. She had plopped down on the foot of his bed, looking as ragged as he felt. Her blond curls were going a thousand directions after having run her fingers through it too many times, as she was prone to do when she was nervous or frustrated. He was going to miss her, but part of him was glad to be getting away from Ella. She was his friend, once-upon-a-time his very best friend, but since she’d put her name on the dotted line of a non-disclosure agreement with Buchanan & Associates, she’d become part of The Darling Machine. Carter had put up a wall between them after that, for which he now felt guilty. It was just another reason why he really needed a break.

A very long break.

He hadn’t had one at all since his time in the Army had been cut short, then he’d had rehab for his bad knee and immediately started school. It’d been a whirlwind since he had graduated high school. 

“No,” said Carter. “I wouldn’t put it past them to have instructed the car service to drive me to D.C., and no fucking way am I sitting in the same room with them. Not today.”

“Carter. They’re your parents.”

“And I’m an adult. Adults don’t have to talk to their parents when their parents fuck up.”

She grinned. “Very adult response.”

“Whatever,” he said, surly.

“Be careful, Ells. Call Paul after my flight, please? I fly out in two hours so… please wait ‘til then.”

“I will,” Ella said on a sigh.

With that, Carter grabbed his suitcase and wheeled out, then down the elevator, and out onto 2nd Avenue, where he held his hand out to hail a cab. After depositing his suitcase in the trunk and telling the driver to head to LaGuardia, he dropped his head back against the seat and took the first deep breath he had taken since he’d woken the day before to a world gone mad.

GIVEAWAY

Enter the Rafflecopter for your chance to win!
Contest ends March 13th!
ARCs will be sent out the same day as blogger/reviewers ARCs, March 14th.
All winners will be notified that day. Check your inbox and spam folders!  
Open to international readers, will ship paperbacks anywhere.
Paperbacks will go out closer to release day, you'll receive a tracking number.

Grand Prize:

(1 Winner) Kade Boehme swag bag w/ signed paperback, Simple Things ARC, any backlist Kade Boehme ebook, and $50 Amazon (or iTunes) Gift Card

Second Tier:

(1 Winner) Signed paperback, Simple Things ARC, any backlist Kade Boehme ebook, and $25 Amazon (or iTunes) Gift Card

Third Tier:

(3 Winners) Simple Things ARC, any backlist Kade Boehme ebook, and $10 Amazon (or iTunes) Gift Card

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Good luck!! <3kade

Simple Things

by Kade Boehme

Coming March 25th!
AMAZON  |  GOODREADS 

Simple Things: Pre-Order and Teaser Time!

     Hey all!

     It's been a long time since I had a new book out. This is the longest I've gone without a NEW title, but you guys went all in on the Good Enough re-release--and I love Noah & Payton so much--I wanted to let it have its moment in the sun. Especially because it FELT new enough with its additions and its original release was so limited that it practically WAS a new book. Then Gangster Country was re-released so work on my current WIPs took a backseat. But. I'll digress and say how SUPER stoked I am to finally give you guys Simple Things. 

     Since both re-releases were pretty heavy angst and I'd been back in those worlds I wanted to write a book where things were a bit more laid back. Even the guys realize the angsting they're doing is a little ridiculous--but they're both in this place in life where things had been complicated and crazy and they didn't know where to go next. So they both end up "home" again to figure it out. Then, needs must, and they end up having what they think is some no-strings good times together, which inevitably leads to complications for two guys looking to "simplify". They were frustrating to write, but a nice change of pace since there wasnt any HUGE drama between them other than both being a little lost in their first world problems.

     I hope y'all like it. For those looking for an angsty bang, this one isn't that kinda Kade Boehme book. I think my friend and I called it a "low-angst, sexy, coffee-on-sunday kind of read."

     SO. I'm giving you cover, blurb, and more a teaser than an excerpt here, though I guess it's a long enough snippet to be more "excerpt." Also, I'm putting up pre-order links! (I haven't done pre-orders in a while but thought why not?) So without further ado: here's your peek at Simple Things, releasing in eBook and paperback March 25, 2016.

COVER & BLURB

(cover art by JK Hogan @ KHD Graphics)

Carter Darling’s life has been a whirlwind since his mother was elected to senate when he was a teen. From private school to joining the military, he tried to make his own path while making as few ripples as possible. But an injury forced him to figure out new goals for his life. After his parents are involved a sex scandal, he decides to go back home to Tennessee to get some distance and out of the madness.

He didn’t figure on Jeremy Beck returning at the same time.

Jeremy’s finally past the rich boy angst that made for some dramatic teenage years, but he hasn’t earned back much respect from his parents playing in an indie band. Now, his band’s on hiatus and Jeremy’s looking for space from his unhealthy non-relationship with a band-mate so returning home to figure out his next step seemed like the way to go.

Their initial reunion is awkward, Carter still hurt by their last meeting and Jeremy trying to convince himself Carter’s still just his sister’s closeted little friend. But when they open up to one another again and decide a staycation fling will be a nice distraction, they may get more than they bargain for.

For two guys who’ve had so much drama in their lives, it’s surprising to find that sometimes love is found in the simple things, simple times. But even simple things can get complicated when two men don't know what's next in life and too stubborn to face what it's offering them on a platter. 

TEASER

(the following is unedited)

Jeremy felt a fondness he’d only ever reserved for Carter, one he hadn’t even been able to deny when they were younger. “No. You’re one of the good things.” He came around the side of the ATV and put a hand on Carter’s face. Carter seemed surprised, but he didn’t move, leaned in fractionally. The soft look in his eyes broke the last of Jeremy’s resolve and he did something he hadn’t done in a very long time…

He placed a closed mouth, simple kiss on Carter’s mouth. It was a hello and an I’ve missed you and it held no promise but it was more than just friends. Carter pressed into the kiss after a moment of stunned stillness. Neither of them opened their mouths, it stayed a gentle meeting of lips.

Jeremy shuddered. He’d never ever been kissed like this. As much as Jeremy wasn’t promising with the kiss, Carter wasn’t asking. It was a kiss. And it was gentle and it made Jeremy glad he’d gotten the fuck over himself for ten damn minutes and remembered his rules.

When he pulled back, Carter had a shy, crooked smile. “Hi.”

“Hey.” Jeremy took a step back, taking his hand from Carter’s face.

“So,” Carter said. “What’s this? You need space? You wanna just hang out?” That was the more grown Carter. Young Carter was inquisitive and talkative but rarely forward. He had the look of a man who wanted to know where he stood and Jeremy could respect that.

“Thing is, I like simple. My motto over the last several years has been ‘keep it simple and always be straight forward’. No confusion, no hurt feelings. I forgot that for a minute and got wrapped up in a not-so-healthy thing. I don’t wanna be a not-so-healthy thing for you. I can’t promise anything, I don’t expect you to either. But I liked being with you.” Jeremy sighed and admitted out loud, “It made me feel good to be with you. I forgot it could feel good to be with someone.”

Carter looked so sad for Jeremy and Jeremy almost wished he’d kept his mouth shut. “I liked it too. Honestly. You, uh, made me feel good too. I definitely wouldn’t mind more of that. If that’s what you want.”

“You sure?”

Carter looked back out toward the pasture. “I know you’ve got a life in Austin. I have one—kinda—in New York. I’m not even sure I’m looking for something serious.” Carter looked at Jeremy and his adam’s apple bobbed, obviously nervous about what he was saying next. “Cards on the table—I’ve been so alone for so long and I think you have too. And I trust you. I do. I hope you can trust me. And maybe, while we’re here, we don’t have to be so alone. Because around you, I don’t feel alone, never had.”

Jeremy wanted to balk. That sounded heavy. The sounded intense. But he yearned. He knew exactly what Carter meant. “A torrid winter affair we’ll remember when we’re old?” Jeremy teased. Yeah, he remembered Carter’s love of big romantic films. Being gay himself he hadn’t wanted to stereotype Carter for them when Carter was a teen… But...

“Shut up,” Carter said, flushing. There was that boy, the romantic, sweet Carter who’d followed Jeremy around like he had a huge crush—the one Jeremy had let follow him because he thought it was the only way he’d ever feel that warmth from that man ever.

            Part of him thought maybe they were about to get in over their heads, but why not? If they only ever got this one brief respite, this short amount of time together before they went on with their lives, why shouldn’t they take it?

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Simple Things

by Kade Boehme

Coming March 25, 2016

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Good Enough Cover, Blurb, & Excerpt

Heya!

So. I'm rereleasing a novella I put out forever ago, called Good Enough. It was only available for a few months before I ultimately pulled it because it was in pretty rough shape and I didn't give it ANY promo for its first release. It was a reader appreciation bonus kinda thing that I dropped because I didn't know what else to do with it haha. But I loved Payton and Noah SO much — particularly Noah, I won't lie. 

Well. I pulled them out, dusted them off, and have revised in pretty major ways, added word count, and sent off for some heavy re-edits. It grew by 10k words from its original draft, even after deleting several thousand in revision, so it's new in many ways, expanded in others, but still very similar if you read the first edition. I'm SO very proud of the new life these guys got. 

I know some of you read this, so I hope you'll give the new edition a chance because I think the new material makes it better. And those who hadn't, I hope you enjoy it. I WILL WARN HERE, because I'm not going to go around tagging it everywhere: there is an ON PAGE cheating scene in a flash back from "8 years ago". If cheating makes you squeamish, you've been forewarned. 

I plan to have this out for you guys right before Christmas.

So I give you this lovely Natasha Snow cover art. And damn, Noah's looking better than ever. Also, giving you the blurb and the first excerpt—which is still unedited.

Good Enough

by Kade Boehme

The day Payton Grady returns home to Seattle after a few years away, he sees a gorgeous club kid who accidentally leaves an interesting scarf behind at the bus stop. In a silly attempt to locate the owner, Payton’s best friend places an ad on Craigslist. Two years later, Payton and his friend are shocked to receive a response from the erstwhile club kid. After balking, Payton’s stunned to find his missed opportunity was with someone from his past — his ex-boyfriend from college.

Noah Di Cicco has been wracked with guilt since college when he crushed Payton. His insecurities and betrayal destroyed their relationship, and eventually Noah's whole life. Six years and the experience of a rock bottom have changed Noah.

Now that Noah knows he’s good enough for love, both men remember what they had, while moving past the hurt they caused each other so long ago. Maybe they can be good enough together.


2nd Edition. Revised, heavily re-edited, and expanded.
WARNING: Not intended for readers under 18.

EXCERPT

Nothing made me antsier than sitting around for a long time so I was more than happy to stretch out my jumpy muscles after a five hour flight from Chicago and an hour on the Seattle Light Rail. I walked around 5th Ave breathing in the cool, fresh air and took in the familiar old sights of the city I’d left behind years ago. I’d been wary of the move back but as I looked around my old stomping grounds I was thankful I’d let my friend Adam talk me into applying for a job at the law firm where he worked as a junior associate.

After complaining about how dead end my job back in Chicago felt, Adam had started a full-fledged campaign to get me back to the West coast. It had taken a lot more work and I balked much more than I’d needed to. It’s not that Seattle had done anything to me. I loved the city, but when I finished college I’d been ready for a change, especially where my personal life was concerned so I'd applied for paralegal positions on the other side of the Mississippi. I was glad to have gone out into the world but damn it was nice to be home. Even if I would be working under my best friend who'd continued on with law school, unlike me who'd decided I much preferred research to actual litigating.

I walked, continuing around to Pine Street where I needed to grab my bus up to the University District, where I’d be crashing at Adam’s apartment until I found my own place. After I’d sidled up to the sign and checked that I was at the correct stop, I rolled my bag beside a bench but decided to continue standing. I’d had quite enough sitting, thank you. As I was digging through my messenger bag for my blasted cell phone, which I managed to lose more than the average person did, I noticed him.

Wow, but this guy was gorgeous, if not vaguely familiar, which I figured was more because of his style than his features. I wasn’t even stealth in my observation of him. I only saw his profile as he leaned against the bus stop shelter, set down a shopping bag and lit a cigarette. He was taller than me, long legs nicely muscled under his tight black jeans and his turquoise shirt made his olive complexion and his simple black tattoos stand out. Even his head was that perfect round shape with hair shaved to the skin all the way around, but medium length black hair on top that was flipped to one side. He was obviously wearing make-up, lips shining and eyes thick with more than just black eyeliner. It looked like he may be wearing a smoky eye shadow, but he was a walking wet dream from what I could tell.

When he shifted I could make out the perfect ass that was obviously firm because those jeans were tight and they were forced to stretch over the globes of his glutes. Goddamn was he hot for a club kid... well... club man. He looked closer to my twenty-six years.

He started to turn my way which made me avert my eyes quickly, studiously glancing at my phone. Thankfully there were no street lights close to me so he probably wouldn’t have noticed if he looked my direction, anyway. The diversion of my phone was good, though. It stopped my foolishness. Why was I checking out a club kid, especially one old enough he should have retired the style by now?

I don’t do club kids. Ever. I don’t even go to clubs. It isn’t my thing—anymore. I, like any gay man in his earlier twenties definitely had had my days of too much booze and dancing. I’d also dated my club boy. But I’m well past that phase. It was no longer a novelty and I knew exactly what happened when you got involved with those boys.

Okay, so I don’t want to be a dick and tar them all with the same brush. Just because my one experience was bad doesn’t mean every club-hopping, twenty-something gay man is a tool. But what would we have in common anymore? Well past my collegiate years and a couple years into my chosen profession, I definitely found myself spending more time with the young professionals crowd. I’d long-ago traded strobe lights and skinny jeans for chinos and sports bars.

That didn’t stop my eye from wandering once more to the man once more, noticing he’d moved on up by the sign where a bus was pulling up. I was sad to see it wasn’t the bus number I was waiting for, instead being a bus going up to Capitol Hill, but that was a good thing. I didn’t need to sit on a damn bus with him. Was I out of my mind? It was my first night—hell, first hour—back in Seattle. I wasn’t looking to start seeing someone and I couldn’t hook up in Adam’s one bedroom apartment.

Who was I kidding? I wouldn’t even speak to the guy. Sexy or not, he was but a throwback to one of the reasons I left Seattle behind and I sure didn’t want to revisit that. So I’m a little bitter and he is being judged because of one guy’s mistakes, sue me.

As I rolled that thought around in my head, I noticed the guy had left behind his shopping bag. I sprang into action before I really even thought it through, jumping to grab the bag. Before I could hop to the bus, though, the door had swung shut and the driver had accelerated. Not that city busses are fast, but you try talking a metro driver to slow his roll and see how fast you learn that it isn’t going to happen. I jogged a few steps in a futile attempt to maybe get the driver’s attention, but stopped exerting myself when, as I knew would happen, I got let in the proverbial dust.

I looked down at the paper bag, feeling I’d attempted my good deed for the year, but also more let down than I wanted to admit that I hadn’t at least gotten one last look at him. I wandered back over to where I’d carelessly abandoned my luggage and saw that the bus that was now pulling away from the curb beside me was the one I was supposed to be on.

*       *       *

“So you still have the bag?” Adam asked, snatching it from off the couch where I’d placed it and looking inside—something I’d yet to do. I’d had to explain to him I wasn’t later than I’d said because I was out shopping, but because I’d had to wait twenty more minutes after missing my bus trying to help out a stranger.

“I don’t know why I did. It’s not like I’ll see him again to return it.” I grabbed the bag from him, for some reason feeling it’d be tacky to trifle through it. “Stop being nosy. It just felt rude to throw it away.”

Adam flipped his blond bangs out of his eyes and smirked at me. “So you weren’t hoping to maybe run into the pretty boy again and play Knight in Shiny Chinos, gallantly returning his scarf. And that’s what’s in the bag, by the way. A very pink scarf.”

I frowned down at the bag. Yeah, the guy seemed the type to wear a fuchsia scarf. I bet it’d look stunning on that strong, olive-toned neck. I looked back at Adam with a scowl. “That wasn’t my motive at all. I don’t know what I was thinking, honestly. Guess I hope if I’d left something behind more important than a fuchsia scarf maybe someone would do the same with me.” I shrugged and dropped the bag back on the couch.

Adam snatched it up immediately and turned his back as I reached for it, digging through it and saying, “Maybe there’s a credit card receipt with his name and you can look him up on Facebook or something.”

I had to admit that was a sound plan but I sure wouldn’t admit that to Adam. He was still dancing and singing I told you so since I fucked up and said “It’s kind of nice to be back in Seattle” upon walking into the apartment. He needed no more encouragement.

“Damn,” he said. “No receipt.” He then pulled out the very fuschia scarf which had GONADS! knitted in black yarn in the middle. Adam snorted. “Very classy, this young man of yours.”

I grabbed the scarf, smiling at the word. “Interesting scarf” was my only commentary.

Adam let loose his signature obnoxious laugh that was probably the most infectious I’d ever heard. “He has a scarf that says GONADS!” Yeah, it was gonna be nice to have my friend around again.

“He had a scarf that says GONADS! Should I take it to a bus driver and give it to lost and found?” I handed Adam the scarf and he read it again, snickering.

“No way!” Adam looked at me with eyes wide. “Someone made this for him. It’ll just get tossed out after so long at lost and found. Maybe there’s somewhere we could advertise you found it and you’d hear from lover-boy.”

I scoffed. “He’s not—What the hell are you talking about? This is not a lost dog. Who puts up Lost Scarf Found signs?” I don’t know why I was dumb enough to even ask that because I could see the gears in his head start turning.

He flailed his arms, excitedly. “Oh, I know!” I didn’t even have a chance to respond before he practically skipped off to his room. Really? Twenty-six and the man still skips? Of course, that’s why I adore him. The guys got brains for days, but he’ll never grow up.

He came back from his room with his laptop in hand and plopped on the couch. I eyed him dubiously. “What exactly are you doing?”

He didn’t answer, ignored me. I rolled my eyes and decided I was probably better off not knowing. “Never mind. I’m going to take a shower.” He waved me off, mumbling that towels were in the cabinet under the sink.  

After a quick shower and changing into gym shorts and a t-shirt I felt a lot better. Nothing makes one feel quite as disgusting as six hours crammed next to strangers on planes, trains and city busses. I was not pleased to see how devious his grin was when I made it back into the living room.

“What did you do?”

“Oh, stop being such a grump.”

“In other words I’m going to hate it.”

“Probably,” he said, unable to contain his glee. Bastard. “I just figured, hey why not kill two birds with one stone. It’s a one in a million shot but…”

“Adam…”

He handed me the laptop and I looked, feeling my face grow tighter with each word I read.

“Adam, shit! Are you kidding me?” Craigslist. No, not just Craigslist. He’d posted it on their Missed Connections.

Are you my bus stop boy?

You were standing at the bus stop on Pine & 5th waiting for the 13 bus to Capitol Hill. You were wearing black jeans and a turquoise tank showing off your black tribal tattoos on your arms. I’m not even sure if you’re gay, but if you are and you see this, I’ve got something you left behind and would love to treat you to coffee. Send an e-mail, subject line should be the word on the thing you left behind. adamantsea@name.com

“Delete this!”

“Come on! Not likely he’ll actually see it but it’s worth a shot and I put my e-mail address. You won’t even have to weed through the weirdos. I’ll handle it all.”

“You’re too kind,” I drawled.

“Oh stop, Payton. Think how romantic it’d be!”

“He wasn’t even my type!”

“Honey, he sounds like every gay man’s type.”

“Not mine.”

“Oh yeah, the No Club Boys Allowed rule. Can you get over Noah’s shit already.”

I scowled at the mention of Noah. “Don’t—”

“Okay, okay. Breathe. Didn’t mean to bring up the shit head, but seriously…” I glared at him.

“I’ll take it down,” he grumbled.

“Good. Now can we drink some wine?”

“No, we can’t. We can drink vodka,” he sing-songed. Oh boy, it was going to be a long first day with a hangover. Fuck it, at least it’d get my mind off of bending Bus Stop Boy over and fucking that plump ass in the back of whatever club he’d been headed toward.

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