Peyton is the owner of the swanky new nightclub, Studs and Steel. He's already been involved in a hit and run and was lucky to come away from that with nothing more than a broken leg. Now he's been shot at point blank range and is recovering in hospital.
He's got an ex-girlfriend and a son who could also be in danger, an ex-boyfriend that he's desperate to find and now to complicate matters even more, he's got a hotter than hot bodyguard watching his every move...
I stared at him. He might just have been the person I’d been waiting for my whole life – and he belonged to my best friend – and that really sucked but it was the way it was...River is a podium dancer at the swanky Studs & Steel gay club - as such he has the pick of the bunch when it comes to getting a guy...
River's never been fussy about who he's slept with and doesn't really believe in relationships - just having a good time... until he meets Jodie - his best friend's boyfriend...
They have an immediate connection that they try their best to control but their feelings get the better of them - finally ending in disaster... Can anything be salvaged from this dangerous love triangle?
“What do you mean, you want me to go to a gay club?” I spluttered, staring at Kody Elden as if he was completely mad. I thought I’d been hiding my sexuality quite well at work until he said that... I’d never come up on anyone’s gaydar before...He just grinned at me, “You’ll love it,” he said, giving me a knowing look, “Just stay away from River McNamara,” he pulled a face, “– he’ll give you something nasty just from shaking your hand.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. He obviously had something against him, which I was dying to know about, “Jeez, what did he do to you?”
He grimaced, “Nothing.” He said far too quickly.
I nodded. I wasn’t about to start pissing off one of my senior officers, “Okay – what do I have to do?”
He shrugged, “Nothing much – we just need a police presence there – Mr McKenzie, the owner of the club – is being harassed by one of his former acquaintances and we need to make him aware that it’s not acceptable in the club where members of the public are socialising.”
I grinned, “Socialising?” I said, “Is that what we’re calling it these days?”
He frowned at me, “Have you ever actually been to a gay club before?” he asked.
I reddened and shook my head. I’ll grant you it was pitiful that I’d known I was gay since I was twelve years old – and had had more than one gay relationship in my young life – but I’d never been out and proud – and I’d never frequented any of the gay pubs and clubs in the city that I’d grown up in.... I was a total closet gay – and I had no idea how to be anything else...
Everyone was hooking up around here - and I didn't mean just for the night, either. Peyton and Kody had kicked it all off – the monogamy thing that is... They’d been a couple for over a year now and everyone knew they were totally exclusive. And then River went and followed suit – now that really was a major surprise. He’d been on anything with a pulse for as long as I’d known him. He was everyone’s sweetheart – and everyone’s quickie in the bathroom – until he went and got jiggy with his best friend’s boyfriend and wham! True love.Not great for Jake but whatever – they seem to have worked it all out between the three of them now... and River and Jodie were getting married next spring.Alfie was sorted with Harley the cop – and Simon was seen in the company of the same mystery man more times than he wasn’t. He just hadn’t gotten around to admitting it to himself – or us lot – yet.Seth and Siobhan were also solid – so... that just left me.And I wasn’t bothered really... Well, you know – I did wonder when I was finally going to find Mr Right. I never expected it to happen on our quietest night... I never expected it to love at first sight... And I really didn’t expect it to be a twink... 
Josh is a player. He's got a different girl on his arm, week in, week out.... He's been in France on his year out and the new term is due to start in September. Chelsea, his best friend, a girl who is completely immune to his charms, gets her other friend, Lorenzo, to help her choose their house for their final year in his absence.
When Lorenzo enlists Josh's help as a guy who knows how to date, for a date with the mysterious Miguel, Josh is immediately a little on the jealous side. As the date gets nearer and nearer, Josh's feelings for Lorenzo get stronger and stronger. The once straight and promiscuous Josh is beginning to wonder if he's really all that straight after all...
This is a standalone novella. It is part of the Studs & Steel series but doesn't need to be read in order. It does not contain any cliffhangers and has a happy ever after...
People were always mistaking me and Denny for a couple. They assumed we were boyfriends. It always made me laugh, although Denny was always apologising for looking too girly and giving people the wrong impression about us – something I thought was utterly ridiculous. He wasn’t girly. He was perfect.He always blushed like a tomato when I paid him compliments. I’d always put it down to the fact that his dad was always giving him a hard time about being a faggot. I’d never taken his banter seriously before. I’d just put it down to his dad being the type that found it hard to pay his son a compliment. And to be fair his dad was well weird. He was really chuffed when Denny got into the police force but for some bizarre reason, he was really annoyed when he got partnered with me. I’d have thought he’d have been pleased that I was there to protect him. I’d always been there to protect him. He was my best friend. Of course I’d protect him...
It had been an agonising couple of years since his brother had lost his life at the hands of Peyton McKenzie’s bodyguard. He’d had enough of trying to survive in a world that just refused to give him a break, he’d had enough of the abuse he’d been forced to suffer just to make ends meet and having all of his money stolen from his secret hiding place just days before he was going to buy his ticket out of there was just the last straw. He was tired. He was broken and he couldn’t go on anymore.
He was going to miss Mason, truly the love of his life – and he felt bad when he thought about leaving him behind to fend for himself. He told himself that Mason was tougher than he was. Always had been. Only that wasn’t really true – he’d looked after Mason every bit as well as Mason had looked after him – probably better because he was street-wise and Mason was, well, Mason...
Sitting in my booth at the club I rarely frequented, while nursing my glass of cola, just to be doing something rather than being at home on my night off where it was becoming more than unbearable to be, I couldn’t help overhearing a conversation going on in the booth right next to me.Some guy was having a drink with another guy – but the arsehole of the two of them seemed to be under the impression that the other one wanted to go home with him – and that really wasn’t what it sounded like to me…
“Let go of my arm, dude.” His voice had gone up in volume and he sounded kind of annoyed as opposed to scared, but you know how you get a feeling sometimes?
That was it. I’d heard enough… I shot out of my seat and rounded the corner, “You heard him.” I snarled, “Let go of my friend’s arm.” I’d acted on instinct and well before I’d even had a good look at the aggressor. I wasn’t unduly worried – being built like a rugby player (I played at school but I really didn’t fancy ending up with cauliflower ears or a broken nose and missing teeth and gave it up before I left for university) I was pretty well built and strong enough to take on pretty much anyone – that said, I wasn’t a street-fighter kind of guy and I wouldn’t dream of carrying a knife – but I knew nothing of this guy... At this point I still hadn’t even looked at the guy being manhandled. As much as I knew, he might have been totally able to take care of himself for the notice I’d taken before wading in. It was a terrible weakness of mine...
I decided to check at that moment and I’m not gonna lie to you, my knees about buckled when he looked around at me with a slightly surprised look on his beautiful face. Holy shit, Date Guy was the most beautiful guy I’d ever laid eyes on – and since he was on a date with another guy, I was pretty confident that he must also be gay…
The bully decided it was time for a sharp exit as he looked up, and up again (six feet five – what can I say? I’m huge) and Date Guy smiled up at me, “Thanks.” He said, “I was handling it – but thanks anyway.”
Fernando, I was utterly certain, was, one hundred per cent, as straight as an arrow… and I was, one hundred per cent, as gay as a rainbow...He was never going to fall in love with me. It was utterly hopeless... but I was a hopeless romantic and so I hoped...Jaime is profoundly deaf following a serious infection when he was younger. It's never held him back and he's at university and holding down a job in a swanky gay nightclub. Fernando is his childhood best friend who has just found out his girlfriend is cheating on him behind his back. Understandably upset, he goes to offload on his best friend.
He gets to his place of work to find him dancing with two guys and the feeling of jealousy that goes through him is a bit of a shock. They've only ever been friends. He's always had girlfriends and Jaime's usually been single...
Only he isn't single anymore - and Fernando doesn't know what to do with that unwelcome news.
I woke up. For a second, just like every morning, I turned over, expecting to see her next to me – for a second I forgot that my life was over...Then, as it did every single day, it all hit me again. My chest ached with the overwhelming feeling of loss. My skin started to tingle, and I was almost able to feel the burning through my clothes.
I was reliving the car accident. Hearing her screaming again, as loud as if we were right there, going through it all again and then finally the gut-twisting, ominous silence. And even though her screams of pain were quite possibly the most awful sound I’d ever heard in my life, the silence was worse – because that meant she’d gone. And she was never coming back...
Seth has lost the love of his life and he's drifting, unsure of his future and never expecting to find love again.
Joel, however, has other ideas and bursts into his life, bringing with it a whole lot of confusion, fun and apples...
Eduard and Wade have been friends for a long time. Eduard felt lost when Wade joined the army five years ago and left him behind.For his part, Wade didn't really want to join up but it was too late to change his mind once he'd signed up.
Five years on and Wade has been medically discharged from the armed forces after being badly injured in a roadside bomb.
Eduard is shocked to hear that he's been hurt and wants to see him as soon as possible, even though the last time they saw each other they fell out quite spectacularly.
Wade is surprised to learn that Eduard has come to the hospital to see him but he's delighted that he has and they tentatively take steps to rebuild their friendship.
Neither wants to admit to each other that they feel more but with a little nudge in the right direction from Eduard's younger brother Franz has them both finding the nerve...
“Has anyone ever told you that you look just like Q from James Bond?”I resisted the urge to roll my eyes even as a little thrill went through me that he’d said so. I’d heard this about a million times over the last five years or so. Ever since Ben Whishaw first played Q in Skyfall. I couldn’t deny it. I did look quite a lot like him. I had the glasses and the dark, unruly hair that never sat flat no matter what I did with it – and as nerdy as it sounds, I was kind of chuffed that my name could be shortened to Q...
I would never describe myself as handsome though – not like Ben Whishaw, who I thought was absolutely stunning. I looked up and sucked in a sharp breath. It was the tall, dark, exotic-looking dancer that I’d been crushing on for weeks. I was quite sure he was called Thai, which really suited him. Fuck. And he was speaking to me! Was he actually hitting on me? Nah… probably not – but he thought I looked like Q! For once it wasn’t annoying me to be compared to a super-geek.
I grinned at him. The music was pumping, the beat vibrating through my body and I was feeling really kind of mellow. I fucking loved coming to this nightclub and tonight was no exception. Raising my voice so I could be heard over the music, I replied, “Uh, yeah – I’ve heard that once or twice.”
He chuckled, his deep, almost musical laugh making my insides feel a little mushy. “And are you a mad, gadget-creating genius on the quiet – or do your talents lie elsewhere?” He shouted, his beautiful mouth curving up in a blinding smile that took my breath away.
Oh, my God – he really was flirting with me! Flirting! With me! Where were all my mates to witness this amazing event?
Oh, yes. That was right – they’d all sneaked off as soon as we arrived. Franz was snogging the face off his boyfriend in the foyer – and all the others were no doubt in the bathrooms getting their rocks off with unsuspecting punters... The bastards.
“I’m more your artistic type.” I said back as loudly as I could. I might be studying physics but I really did love to draw and paint. I had about twenty sketches of him that I’d done from memory. Looking into those incredible eyes now, though, with his super long and curly eyelashes – it was more than obvious that I hadn’t done him justice. I’d have to have another go when I got home...
Dylan is a wedding planner. A very good wedding planner actually and his business is doing exceedingly well. He isn't quite so successful in finding love for himself though and being somewhat of an entrepreneur, decides to expand the business into a dating agency for guys looking for serious relationships with other guys. Who knows? Maybe by using his own app, he might one day find his Prince Charming among all the frogs he's managed to meet so far in his life...Nathan is a builder. He's just been dumped by his wife of only five months and is feeling rather hurt and confused by the whole incident. He thought he and his wife were happy - turns out she was cheating on him the whole damned time...
When Nathan and Dylan first meet they don't think they have anything much in common, but time spent together sees all that change and Dylan finds that Nathan might just be what he's been looking for his whole life.
And Nathan? Well, Nathan finds that a guy who wears make-up and pink sparkly converses might just be what is missing from his life too...
Colby is fed up of being on his own. His partner in crime-fighting, Harrison, is on paternity leave; he and his wife having just had their second child. Colby's missing their easy banter, not to mention the fact that it was a damn sight easier working with someone else than going it alone...When Miller comes crashing into his life, quite unexpectedly, he's delighted - even if Miller is a glass-half-empty kind of a guy with almost zero interest in starting something special with him. Colby isn't put off by that; there's something about his stand-offish manner that Colby finds absolutely irresistible.
Miller has issues. He's a struggling actor, trying to get his name out there, but he's been abused in the past by the very guy who is standing right between stardom and failure. The producer of the show he wants to audition for...
When he confides in Colby about it, Colby wants to help him but Miller thinks it's a futile venture. No one is ever going to believe him over a big named producer... But when another would-be actor tweets that he's been the victim of assault by the same guy and a trend starts up with loads of other young men coming out and saying the same, Miller realises that, with Colby's help, maybe they really can take the guy down...
Bradley is sick of never being his boyfriend Robson's number one priority. He's reluctantly gone along with his suggestion of inviting Freddie into their relationship and the final straw in his strained and frankly doomed relationship is when Robson tells him that he actually wants to be Freddie's permanent boyfriend instead of his...
It was quite possibly the first time I’d ever looked at a woman and felt something stirring downstairs. It was usually pretty-faced guys that got my motor running. Not that anyone else knew that – and I’d never act on it. Not in a million years. I’d rather die than admit the fact that I fancied guys. That was my brother Curtis’ department.
Everyone thought I was a big, tough soldier. A red-blooded male who went through women like they were going out of fashion – and to the untrained eye that was exactly what I was and I was quite happy hiding behind that persona, thanks very much. The fact that I was bored with my life wasn’t something I wanted to admit to myself, never mind anyone else. There had to be something wrong with me for not actually enjoying the single life I had going on, didn’t there?
I looked across at her again and suppressed a sigh. Maybe it was her eyes, that were incredibly dark but still seemed to pop through her beautifully applied makeup. She had a strong jaw for a girl and her arms were toned. My God. She was a total stunner.
“And it’s not like I’m promiscuous or anything,”
I said earnestly, “I’m just outgoing and friendly.”
My brother, Cole snorted and turned to the guy he’d been chatting to for far longer than he needed to in my humble opinion (but only because he was gorgeous with a capital G and I wanted to talk to him and have him smile at me the way he was smiling at my brother, which was a total waste of his time and effort, since Cole was as straight as a die and married to a woman). “Did you hear that, Ash?” He asked, making me raise my eyebrows that he actually knew the guy he’d been making what appeared to be small-talk at the bar for the last five minutes, and obviously startling him slightly at being invited to join in with his banter – or rather, his unnecessarily rude comment about his friend’s brother... “He reckons he’s just outgoing and friendly?” He shook his head and then, looking slightly disgusted, which was ruder still, he added for good measure, “For chrissakes, he’s slept with half of the gay population of Cornwall!”
Well, that was a gross exaggeration. I absolutely had not! “I have not!” I protested. I didn’t want the gorgeous man at the bar to think I was a total slut!
Cole shook his head and chuckled, “Well, maybe not but you sure get your quota in.”
It was then that I got to hear the beautiful guy’s voice – and it really didn’t disappoint. “Well, I’m no expert on the whole dating scene,” he said softly, “but if young Jed here is anything like the guys in camp, then I’m guessing it’ll be a fair number – but hell,” he shrugged and shot me a grin that made my knees feel weak, “you’re only young once.”
I smile back at him gratefully, not least for already knowing my name. Cole shook his head, “Man,” he sighed, placing another beer down in front of him, “I think the promiscuity gene just passed me by.”
Ash chuckled and it was only then that it dawned on me who he was – it was Ashton Colby, Cole’s best friend from school, and if I’m not mistaken, who had finally realised he batted for our team but, according to my brother, had already met the man of his dreams…
I’d been far too young back in the day to have realised his utter yumminess, being eight years younger than my brother but hell, the guy had turned into the hottest man I’d ever had the pleasure to look at. It was a total shame that he was smiling at me in a way that could only be described as friendly interest of the brotherly kind. He did not find me sexually attractive in the least. I could tell – my gaydar was absolutely top-notch.
I grinned at my brother and shot a quick glance at Ash. He might be eight years older than me and completely disinterested, but hell, I could window shop, couldn’t I? “You have the best wife in the whole world,” I said to Cole, “You’re all set – I’m still kissing frogs in the hope of finding my prince.” Please, God. Let Ashton Colby change his mind and become my prince. Please!
Cole smiled and nodded, “Yeah and you’ll find him one day. Just don’t get caught up with some loser.”
Well, that was famous last words – I never meant to – and it wasn’t all that easy to spot, but it was exactly what happened. Johnny seemed to be totally wonderful when I first met him but he soon became the boyfriend from hell and then some..
.
I never thought I’d see that guy again but there he was, chatting up one of my best friends, Michael, and pulling out all of the stops, just the way he’d done five years ago when he dated and then stalked another really good friend of mine, Jed Williamson.
“Oh, hell,” I breathed into my pint as I stared at what I hoped against hope was just a really bad hallucination.
But I knew otherwise, because, one – I never drank enough to have hallucinations. And two, I would never forget that bastard’s face for as long as I lived…
I didn’t know what to do. I’d always been brought up to think that people should be given a chance and that they could change their ways and live a better life with education and rehabilitation – hell, I even worked in a rehabilitation centre for ex-cons who had done relatively minor crimes, helping them to get back into the community, rather than falling off the wagon and ending up back inside – and I believed in those guys; believed that they wanted to change their ways and that they’d only gotten into crime out of necessity or from getting in with the wrong crowd when they were kids.
But as I observed Johnny King run his hand down my friend’s arm and then lean in to brush his lips against his temple, a shiver of revulsion went down my spine. It was like being taken back in time – and I had no doubt in my mind that he hadn’t changed one bit – and that my friend was in serious danger…
Not knowing what to do, but feeling that I needed advice, regardless, I called Jed.
His breathy voice came through loud and clear, “Fisher!” he sing-songed down the phone, “Long time no hear buddy – how are you?”
Oh, shit. He hadn’t heard then… He wasn’t going to like this news one bit – not least because he now had a child with his husband, Grayson. But he needed to know so they could be on their guard. I didn’t trust that Johnny wouldn’t go looking for Jed again, given half a chance. “Johnny King is out of prison – and he’s right back here in Oakwell – and he’s chatting up Michael.”
“Oh, God.” Jed murmured, “He’s got out early, then?”
I didn’t know what to say. He was never going to get the full sentence he was given – no one ever seemed to these days, no matter what they’d done. “Looks like it, mate.” I said, “I thought you should know – but I also wanted Grayson’s advice on whether I should warn Michael or not.”
There was a beat of silence at Jed’s end. “Why do you want to warn him?” he asked, “Are you just concerned that Johnny might still be a danger – or is it because you’re secretly in love with Michael but don’t know how to tell him?”
Oh, hell. Why did Jed always go in for the killer question first?
“I’m not answering that right now because I’ve had three cocktails and I might start crying – but can you put Grayson on so I can get a man’s perspective on this.”
“Rude.” Jed said before shouting his husband.
