From This Day

Yes–it’s that time. Finally the book JR and I wrote together is OUT!!! Woohoo! AND…we’re going to have a contest. Two people will win a copy of From This Day. 🙂 First…book info. And make sure you go to the end so you see what you have to do to be entered in the contest. ALSO–make sure to leave your email address so we can contact the winner.

BLURB:

Joshua Ames and Roman Johnson have been together for eight happy years when some visiting friends get engaged, sparking Roman’s desire to tie the knot with Joshua. But Joshua claims marriage spells disaster for any couple. Suddenly Roman finds himself rethinking their relationship. Taking some time apart could prove Joshua’s point that even talk of marriage is toxic—or it might prove that absence makes the heart grow fonder and show him that love is worth the risk.

EXCERPT:

Chapter 1

ROMAN JOHNSON writhed as Joshua Ames licked a trail down his back.

“Josh, we don’t have time for this. Steve and Bri will be here any minute.”

“We always have time for this,” Josh murmured against his ass.

Roman moaned as Josh wiggled his tongue into his rosette. “Fuck.”

“I’m working up to that.” His lover chuckled, the vibration making Roman shudder.

Roman pushed back onto the spine tingling intrusion. “More.” He’d started to wonder whether he would last until Josh was inside him when the doorbell rang. “Noooooo.”

Josh bounded off the bed.

“Wait!” Roman yelled.

“What?”

“You’re naked. And hard.” And as sexy as he’d been when they first met.

“It’s nothing they haven’t seen before.”

“Our neighbors haven’t been so lucky, so could you please put some shorts on?”

“Fine, but I’m slipping the Scotts a note naming you as the reason they’re being deprived of my nude goodness.” Josh stuck his tongue out.

Roman just shook his head and willed his erection to go down. He, Josh, Steve, and Brian had spent months trying to coordinate their schedules for this one-week visit. Too many years had passed since they’d seen the guys. The four had been inseparable during college—man, had they raised hell—now, they were all responsible adults.

He scrambled out of bed and bent to retrieve his clothes from the floor, where they had been tossed when Josh stripped him earlier. Josh took the opportunity to smack his ass, and Roman rolled his eyes. Well, mostly responsible.

“Payback’s a bitch, you know.”

“It better not be.” Josh faked a stern look. “I don’t like girly bits.”

Roman laughed and hurried to get dressed. “Go answer the door already.”

“You keeping him locked up now?” Roman heard Brian inquire as he left the bedroom.

“If anyone needs to be locked up, it’s Josh, not me,” Roman interrupted before Josh could answer. He hugged Steve and Brian. “It’s great to see you two.”

“I was just telling Josh how much I missed your fine mocha ass,” Steve said. “We’ve got to stop letting so much time go by between visits. We saw more of you guys when we were living in Spain.”

“Yeah, but have you seen los hombres in España? We weren’t there for you. At least I wasn’t.” Amidst laughter, Roman ducked the punch he knew was coming from Josh. “You hungry? I was getting ready to fix a snack. Or do you want to eat out?” Roman asked.

“I’m starving, but no way do I want to squeeze into a car now or walk farther than your dining room for food. And I need to be horizontal for a bit.” Steve reached up, locking his fingers together for a full-body stretch.

“I’ll say. You’re looking a little peaked there, princess,” Josh teased.

“Bite me, bitch.”

Their bickering faded as Steve headed for the couch and Josh took care of the luggage.

“From the flush on Josh’s face when he answered the door, I’m pretty sure food was not what you were getting ready to fix.” Brian shot Roman a knowing look.

“And I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Roman countered.

“Uh-huh.” Brian followed Roman into the kitchen. “When did you learn to cook? I never thought you’d be playing the missus.”

Roman snorted. “The ‘missus’? What are you, living in 1950? And who even talks like that anymore? Anyway, takeout got boring after a while, so I took a class or two. Don’t worry. You’ll get to sample my master chef skills while you’re here. So what have you and Steve been up to?”

“Same ol’, same ol’. Business is good, we can’t complain. Things were rocky for a bit with the recession and all. I’ve never been so glad Steve is great with numbers. I swear that man added elastic to the money at times. God knows we needed the stretch. But we’re doing well enough now that we’re not worrying about money too much.”

“You still taking turns behind the counter?”

“Of course. But it isn’t as much kicks as when you were there with me, and we went all Cocktail on the place.” Brian chuckled.

Roman grinned. It had been a fun way to help out Steve and Brian in the early days.

He grabbed the eggs and bacon from the fridge. It wasn’t quite lunchtime but the four had always believed breakfast made for a great meal any time of day. “California still crazy enough for you? I think the only thing I miss is the weather.”

“Actually, Steve and I were thinking of leaving Cali, especially with all the Proposition 8 drama. You don’t know how lucky you are to be living in New Hampshire. Well, except for the snow.” Brian shuddered. “It would mean starting over, but we’re old pros at the bar business now, so that shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Do you and Steve want to get married? Is that what the ‘missus’ crack was about?”

“I figure we will eventually. Don’t you and Josh?”

Roman sobered as he considered Brian’s question. “We never really talked about it.”

“It just seems like a natural progression. I don’t see myself with anyone else.” Brian shrugged.

Roman worked on fixing the meal, and Brian continued in the background, filling him in on all the gossip.

“Is the food done yet?” Steve entered the kitchen with Josh right behind him.

“I’m dishing it up now. Babe, you wanna get the juice out of the fridge?”

Josh grazed Roman’s ass with his hand on the way to get the drinks. The rhythm they’d established over the years flowed with ease. Married. Roman looked at Josh. He would love to be Josh’s forever. Officially. They should talk about it. Brian was right. It was the next step to show how committed they were. Maybe he’d bring it up later.

“Dig in, you guys.” He joined the other men at the table. His friends had just arrived, but now Roman was looking forward to some time alone with Josh so they could talk. It seemed so silly that he hadn’t considered getting married before.

JOSH whistled as he cleared the table. Rome loved to cook, and Josh always thoroughly enjoyed his efforts. It was only fair he was on clean-up detail, and he didn’t mind.

“Gotta question for ya, babe,” Rome said from his seat at the bar.

“Shoot.”

“What do you think about us getting married?”

“What?” Josh nearly dropped the stack of plates he’d been carrying to the sink. Talk about an ambush. Sure, they lived in a state where same-sex marriage was legal, but after eight years and no mention of marriage, he’d figured they dodged that bullet. Shit.

Okay, there was no need to panic. This could be evaded. “Where’s this coming from, Rome?”

“I was just thinking that marriage is the logical next step in our relationship.”

“There’s nothing logical about marriage,” Josh stated flatly, fighting the urge to shout. Steve and Brian were out cold in the guest room, recuperating from their long flight, and he didn’t want to wake them.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rome’s forehead crinkled in puzzlement.

“Look, can we not talk about this right now?” He brushed past Rome and snagged the glasses.

“And when would be a good time to discuss this?”

“Never is sounding pretty good,” Josh muttered as he loaded the dishwasher. Marriage ruined relationships. It was a fact. If watching his parents destroying each other hadn’t been enough, helping his sister Tracey pick up the pieces of her life after leaving her douchebag husband had sealed the deal.

And that was just family. His friends were just as bad. He didn’t know one couple whose marriage hadn’t ended in heartache. He loved Roman. No way was he fucking up what they had by getting married. But his reasons would sound ridiculous to Rome. Goddammit.

“What did you say?” Hurt filled Rome’s voice.

Josh dried his hands and turned to face Rome. “Nothing. I’m sorry I snapped at you. I love you. You know that. I just don’t think marriage is for me.”

“It won’t only be you, dumbass.” Rome tugged him into his arms and gave him a kiss. “I’ll be a part of this marriage too.”

Josh suppressed a grimace. He had to get Rome off this track.

“Don’t you trust me?”

Rome pulled back, a frown on his handsome face. “Of course I do. Why would you ask that?”

“So why this sudden insistence on us getting married? We’ve been together for eight years, and as far as I’m concerned, we’ll still be together eight years from now, and eight years after that. We don’t need to get a piece of paper for that. I trust you. I trust in what we have. Obviously, you don’t.”

He walked away, ignoring the stab of guilt that accompanied his little speech. If manipulating Rome was what he had to do to save their relationship from the talons of marriage, so be it.

BUY HERE

Now for the contest. 🙂 Please answer the question I’m going to post.   We will pick a winner in a tonight! We will notify the winner by email so make sure you leave an email address in the comment as well to make it easier to find you! AND…we will pick TWO winners. They will receive a copy of From This Day! Woot!

Now…what is the question? What would you do if you brought up marriage and your significant other thought it was a the beginning of the end?