Cover Reveal: Friends and Lovers

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Coming March 8th! Pre-order FRIENDS AND LOVERS now at: Amazon, Google PlayKobo, iBooks, All Romance Ebooks, and Smashwords.

Two gay love stories about friends becoming lovers. Each story is based on one of my three-word scenarios from my website.

Cops and Lovers: SWAT teammates Sawyer and Finn have been secretly sleeping together for the past two years and hiding that fact from their commander, their team members, from everyone. Sawyer couldn’t be happier with the arrangement. Until Finn gives him an ultimatum. Now Sawyer has to rethink everything in his life. Or give up the only person he’s ever loved.

His Roommate’s Secret: For two years Brady has harbored a secret crush on his straight college roommate. He doesn’t think he’ll ever get the chance to climb into Rex’s bed. Until Rex shares a secret he’s been hiding since the day they met.

Length: 19,859 words.

Three-Word Scenario: Partners (an M/M scene)

I wrote a new three-word scenario this week. It’s called Partners and includes the following three words:

Retro, Parking, and MattressStop by my website to check out this snippet with cops Sawyer and Finn. Or you can read it below.

Partners
by Sloan Parker

Sawyer drew in a long breath and leaned back on his elbows. His T-shirt lay crumpled in a ball beside him on the mattress, and his jeans were open at the front. He didn’t bother to zip them up. In a few minutes he and Finn would get back to where they’d been headed.

Who the hell got half naked, kissed like they’d been doing five minutes ago, and then stopped before they got to the fucking? Something was seriously messed up between them.

Finn stood across the room, his back to the wall, his arms folded across his bare chest. He sported a scowl that said everything Sawyer didn’t want to hear.

Or maybe he did. Maybe they needed to have this conversation. Get everything out in the open. Finally.

They hadn’t slept together in weeks. Every night after work, they hung out at Sawyer’s apartment, watching one of those ’70s cops shows, not talking, not even laughing at the stupid-ass crooks or the retro hairstyles they usually mocked all through the show.

Sawyer threw Finn a smirk, knowing that alone would piss him off. “You’re mad at me.”

Finn kept his hard gaze locked on Sawyer’s chest. “I’m not mad.”

“Fuck that. You’ve been mad at me since that day in the parking garage. Like it was my fault.”

“You got shot.”

“I didn’t ask the guy to shoot me.”

Finn made eye contact for the first time since the kissing ended. “You might as well have. You went at him like you had no training at all.”

Sawyer sat up with a jolt. “Are you calling me a shitty cop?

“No. I’m calling you a reckless one.”

“I know you don’t mean that.” Slowly, like he might spook Finn if he moved too fast, Sawyer got off the bed and went to stand in front of him. “Just like I knew in that garage you’d have my back. Like always.”

Finn met his gaze again and grunted out a laugh. He didn’t let up on the tense posture, though.

Sawyer grabbed him by the back of the neck and yanked him forward until they were eye to eye, their foreheads almost touching. “Just admit it. You’re pissed about the shooting because it freaked you out like nothing else on the job ever has. And it freaked you out because you’re in love with me.” He drew him forward until they were back to the kissing, this time their mouths and tongues and bodies coming together slowly, tenderly.

When they finally parted, Finn leaned against the wall again, the tension in his body long gone. “God, you’re infuriating.” He smiled with a softness Sawyer had never seen before.

“And you’re right,” Finn added. “About everything. So don’t ever get your ass shot again.”

Sawyer gripped him by the waistband of his jeans and tugged until Finn was in his arms again. “Deal.”

Copyright (c) March 2013 by Sloan Parker

This short has now been revised and expanded into a longer story. It is now available in the e-book FRIENDS AND LOVERS.

Read more 3-word scenarios and other free fiction by Sloan Parker

Sending out best wishes to “my” ride-along SWAT team

A while back I posted about my research ride-along with a SWAT team. Well I just learned that one of the guys (the tall, quiet blond) was wounded in the leg during an exchange of gunfire with a suspect. Another had a bullet go through his clothing, wallet, and credit cards. Thankfully (and surprisingly) he was not injured.

I’m sure none of the SWAT guys are following my author blog, but I wanted to send my best wishes for a speedy recovery and again offer my thanks to all men and women in law enforcement for their continued service in the protection of the rest of us.

Now back to my fictional world where no one gets shot unless I say so.

All the best,
Sloan