Beth Bolden

Drive Me Crazy (Food Truck Warriors #1) by Beth Bolden: RDB, Excerpt, New Release Review & Giveaway

August 31, 2020 by Denise

When Tony Blake walks into what might be a blind date, he’s surprisingly intrigued despite his irritation with his meddling brother. But when Lucas turns out to be a new employee for their food truck, Tony’s usual charm deserts him.

Lucas might be fantastically creative in the kitchen, but to Tony’s disappointment, he’s not interested in more than a casual hookup. Old Tony would have loved the lack of strings, but New Tony is finally ready for it all.

He’s ready to find love, and to help the food truck thrive. What he needs is Lucas next to him, revolutionizing their carnivore menu with his vegan point of view, and what he wants is Lucas underneath him in bed, turning his life inside out.

As the kitchen heats up in the Los Angeles summer, can Tony figure out how to drive Lucas crazy enough to change his mind?

Book Title: Drive Me Crazy (Food Truck Warriors #1)

Author: Beth Bolden

Publisher: Beth Bolden Books

Cover Artist: Angsty G Book Cover and Media Design

Release Date: August 26, 2020

Genre/s: Contemporary gay romance, opposites attract, work romance, foodie romance

Heat Rating: 4 flames

Length: 83 000 words

It is a standalone story.

Goodreads

Amazon US – Kindle Unlimited

Amazon UK – Kindle Unlimited

Tony was muttering as he climbed back into the truck.

“Gabriel’s here,” he said, “and so is Ash. And the fucking picnic truck.”

Lucas didn’t know who Gabriel or Ash were, but he had heard of the famous—or apparently in Tony’s mind, infamous—picnic truck. It was called Basket, and it specialized in all kinds of stuff you’d bring to a picnic or a cookout: ribs, hot dogs, potato salad, deviled eggs. Lucas had ordered from it once and had been surprisingly impressed by their macaroni salad. Macaroni salad, that fucking mainstay of middle-class American potlucks and grocery store delis. Completely reimagined and absolutely crazy delicious.

But it sounded like Tony was not exactly thrilled they were here, which kind of made sense, because they definitely seemed to grab the lion’s share of attention wherever they went.

“They’re new,” Lucas said. “A novelty.”

“Ross is a dick,” Tony grumbled, “and Aaron is an even bigger dick.”

That surprised Lucas. Tony didn’t seem like the kind of guy who’d trash his competition. “Really?”

“They stole our onion dip recipe,” Tony said. “Well, Wyatt’s onion dip recipe. And he thinks it’s funny, but it’s really not, because then we had to take it off the menu.”

“Why?”

“They claimed theirs is an ‘old family recipe’ which is total bullshit, but somehow it was basically identical to ours, and Wyatt didn’t want us to look like we were copying them, even though we’d had it as a side, nearly from the start. That was when we decided we’d do more salsas, lean into the fish tacos and stuff.”

“You should make it for me sometime,” Lucas said. He hadn’t intended for it to sound like an invitation or, god forbid, a date, but Tony glanced over in surprise, like he’d just propositioned him. Over onion dip, for god’s sake.

“Next big event, we’ll add it as a special. At least if freaking Basket isn’t around.”

Lucas told himself that he wasn’t disappointed in the way Tony dismissed him. He probably wouldn’t be around for the next big event, and Tony knew it.

Returning to his final set of prep, Lucas tried to let it go, but the way Tony had said it was weird. Stole. Money and a recipe were totally different beasts, but there was a weird similarity there that kept bothering him, piquing his curiosity. Finally, even though he knew better than to bring up what was clearly a sore subject, Lucas put his knife down and turned towards Tony, who was working on the spinach artichoke mixture for the grilled cheese, wilting spinach in a huge pot on the stove.

“What do you mean, they stole it?” Lucas asked.

Tony looked up, surprise etched on his face.

“Like, did they break into the truck and steal the recipe?” Lucas continued, gesturing to where the vague recipes were written out in bold, slashing letters that he’d discovered was Tony’s handwriting. “Or did they just buy some and duplicate it?”

“I don’t know,” Tony said. “I wish I did, but fuck if I know how they got it. I guess they could have recreated it. But . . .”

“It was totally identical,” Lucas finished. “Fuck, that sucks.” He knew how hard it would be to recreate a recipe that closely. It’d take dozens of attempts, and tons of time. Not the kind of time that anyone would waste in the food truck business. Tony was probably right; somehow the Basket guys had stolen the recipe.

This is a spin off of her Kitchen Gods series, which you don’t need to read to pick up this book. One of the main characters, Tony, we met in a Kitchen God’s book that focused on his brother- who is also in this book. There are a few mentions of life in Napa (Kitchen Gods), but you’re good starting here.

Tony and his brother own and run a food truck, but his brother being a classicaly trained chef and former personal chef has been contracted to write a cookbook. Because of that he won’t be able to work the truck for at least the summer. Tony thinks it is fine because he has his friend Jeremy- who his brother Wyatt doesn’t like at all. So Wyatt hires Lucas part time to help out in the truck. Although at first Tony thought it was a set up and was kind of dickish to Lucas at first. So that was funny.

The dickishness wears off fast when they start working together and making eyes at each other. Things move quickly. Both guys claiming to want hook ups only. Cliche.

There is also a small rivalry with another truck as well as a petty thief hitting their truck. Nothing big enough really to call the police about, but enough to be annoying and make Tony feel violated.

By the way, Lucas is also a personal trainer and is trying to get his energy bar business going. Add in a new relationship and I don’t think this guy sleeps.

The chemistry with Lucas and Tony was definitely hot. They made a good couple both in and out of bed. Their mutual love of food and cooking definitely helped.

All of that being said, I am a total details person and there were just a lot of details missing that took me out of the story. Stupid things like they don’t shower after working in a tiny hot food truck for 12 hours. One mention of food delivery, one mention of picking up more food. Riding a motorcycle without a helmet. And when the theif is caught- no mention of calling the police. Just, really?

2.5 pieces of eye candy

A lifelong Oregonian, Beth Bolden has just recently moved to North Carolina with her supportive husband and their sweet kitten, Earl Grey. Beth still believes in Keeping Portland Weird, and intends to be just as weird in Raleigh.

Beth has been writing practically since she learned the alphabet. Unfortunately, her first foray into novel writing, titled Big Bear with Sparkly Earrings, wasn’t a bestseller, but hope springs eternal. She’s published nineteen novels and six novellas.

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The Rivalry by Beth Bolden: RB, Excerpt, New Release Review and Giveaway

March 18, 2020 by Denise

The first time NFL quarterback Heath Harris meets Sam Crawford, it’s just them, a luxury yacht and a few days of fun in the sun. Sam turns out to be nothing like Heath expects. He’s kind and funny and irreverent—and also unbelievably, shockingly sexy. For three short, glorious, life-changing days, there are no rules.

The second time they meet, Sam has just been traded to Heath’s team, and instead of lovers, they’ve become rivals instead. Heath has spent the last five years working desperately to be the best quarterback the Riptide could ever need, but when injuries threaten to derail his career, Sam is right there, standing on the sideline. Ready to take over, and ready to ruin everything Heath has given his life for.

Rival. Enemy. Teammate. Friend. Lover.

As their orbits collide, sparks fly, and Heath struggles to find the right label and the right box to shove Sam into, hoping to keep him contained. But Sam—and Heath’s feelings—refuse to cooperate.

Sam might not be just one of those things, he might be all of them, and so much more.

Book Title: The Rivalry

Author: Beth Bolden

Publisher: Beth Bolden Books

Cover Artist: AngstyG Design

Release Date: March 9, 2020

Genre/s: Contemporary MM Romance. Sports romance.

Enemies to lovers. Gay awakening.

Heat Rating: 4 flames

Length: 100 000 words

It is a standalone story.

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Amazon UK – Kindle Unlimited

Heath had forced himself not to get (even more) self-conscious when he changed into his swim trunks. You work your ass off in the weight room, he told himself firmly, you look good. But it was hard to ever imagine he looked as good as Sam did. Sam looked . . . Heath forced himself not to think about it, because the last thing he needed was to get hard in his trunks right now.

Brooke was already lying out on the open deck, a skimpy bikini revealing all her best assets. “Drew and Mark already took the skiff out with Captain Tom,” she said when Heath and Sam approached.

“Yeah, we’re going for a swim,” Sam said.

“And share secret quarterback tips? You two have fun.” Brooke’s knowing expression was baffling, but maybe she thought it was weird they were hanging out because they played for different teams.

“Uh,” Heath said, and then latched on to the bin of sunscreen options next to her. “We should put some protection on . . .”

Both Brooke and Sam looked at him shocked. “Um,” he realized, “sun protection.”

“Right,” Sam said, grinning. “You first.” Instead of the easy spray option, Sam plucked a bottle of lotion from the selection. Heath went hot and then cold, realizing that Sam definitely intended to touch him all over, and he was somehow going to have to keep his erection under control.

Normally, that wouldn’t have even been an issue, but somehow his dick had discovered its purpose in life after meeting Sam. He was already half-hard now, and as soon as Sam touched him, all bets were going to be off.

The lotion was cold as Sam squirted it onto his back, and that helped initially, but then his hands, warm and broad and confident, were there, smoothing the cream all over his back and shoulders. He used soft, long strokes, like he was both trying to reassure Heath and turn him on, all at the same time—even though Heath knew that couldn’t possibly be true. When his fingers drifted lower, nearly hitting the waistband of his swim trunks, Heath nearly gasped. It was the most erotic application of sunscreen that Heath had ever experienced, and the only thing that kept him from totally busting out of his trunks was latching on to the thought of how smelly Bran’s locker was by the end of the season.

“My turn,” Sam said, and to Heath’s surprise, his own voice was rather gravelly. Like he’d actually enjoyed touching Heath.

Sam touching him had felt like a combination of heaven and hell. Heath never imagined that reciprocating would somehow feel even more dangerous, but from the moment his fingers lightly brushed Sam’s skin, it was nearly game over. He was so smooth and powerful and soft, all contradictions wrapped up in this sexy, gorgeous package, and it was nearly impossible to stop when the lotion had been evenly distributed.

“Aren’t you two just the cutest,” Brooke said, and Heath jerked his hands back like he’d been electrocuted.

“I mean, so helpful with each other, even though you’re supposed to be rivals,” Brooke added.

They weren’t really rivals—Sam wasn’t even the starting quarterback for the Piranhas, but Heath latched on to her distraction like a lifeline. “We’re not rivals,” Heath said. “It’s not like that.” Sam nodded vigorously, and grabbed the lotion from Heath’s hands, clearly also eager to change the subject. Heath didn’t know why, but he was intrigued.

“You about ready to go in?” he asked Heath.

“Yeah, let me just get my face,” Heath said. He knew he was still too pale, especially considering he lived in Southern California. Too much time still spent indoors. Frankie was always harassing him, accusing him of becoming a recluse. She wasn’t completely wrong.

“Good, because I’m definitely ready,” Sam said, obviously eager to get away from Brooke, her inquisitive gaze still pinned to the pair of them.

Sam took off in a cannonball leap, before Heath could warn him that they didn’t know how deep the water was. You’re always looking before leaping, he thought ruefully. It was definitely a less exciting existence than the one Sam clearly enjoyed. Instead of jumping off the boat, Heath sat on the back ledge, and swinging his legs around, dropped down gently into the water. It was surprisingly warm, and he kicked powerfully to bring himself over to where Sam had surfaced, pushing his wet hair back, like he was a fucking supermodel.

“Feels damn good,” Sam said, and Heath nodded, keeping his distance as they both treaded water.

It would feel even better if they were pressed up together, wet skin against wet skin, but Heath would take the water reflecting in the intense blue of Sam’s eyes every day of the week. He’d never felt a color so viscerally—burning deep in his stomach, magnifying his arousal until the only thing keeping him from flying apart was the cool water against his dick.

This story did not start out strong for me. At all. The first part on the yacht was nearly eye rolling. But once they got off the yacht, it got better. Way better.

Heath was borderline antagonistic to Sam at the beginning. For no reason. Supposedly he had no idea that he was gay (or bi or pan or just not straight) and Sam was back up for another team, so not his rival. And then to have a steamy hook up. It just didn’t ring true for me.

But then they got back to their real lives. And Sam ends up directly in Heath’s orbit. And then Heath’s attitude made way more sense. He was afraid of his feelings. Afraid of Sam’s feelings. Afraid for his job. Afraid for Sam’s job. Suddenly it all came together.

Heath’s growth in the book was great to read. There was a smallish plot point that wasn’t resolved, but other than that, I enjoyed watching Sam and Heath together- in public at work and in private at Heath’s house.

There were good supporting characters, but at the same time I am kind of surprised at how few of the other members of the team that they guys interacted with throughout the story. And we did also get a cameo from the main characters in The Rainbow Clause.

The ending was a bit too perfect for me, but still enjoyable.

4 pieces of eye candy

A lifelong Oregonian, Beth Bolden has just recently moved to North Carolina with her supportive husband and their sweet kitten, Earl Grey. Beth still believes in Keeping Portland Weird, and intends to be just as weird in Raleigh.

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Bite Me by Beth Bolden: Blog Tour, Exclusive Guest Post, Review and Giveaway

February 27, 2018 by Denise

Talented pastry chef Miles Costa is bored. Working at the celebrated Napa Valley restaurant Terroir is supposed to be the cherry on top to a promising career, but instead it’s a creative desert. So when he gets an offer to turn his online video series into a career, he leaves his three best friends in Napa and swaps Terroir for Los Angeles.

With the resources now at his fingertips, turning his pastry series into a hit should be easy. Then Miles meets his producer, Evan Patterson, and realizes he’s screwed. And not even in the good way.

It’s not a meet-cute . . .

Evan lives to work and loves every minute detail Miles loathes. Not only that, he seems hell bent on micromanaging every aspect of Miles’ show despite the fact he knows nothing about the culinary arts. Evan doesn’t even like sweets—until Miles seduces him with a rainbow of delectable confections he can’t resist.

. . . it’s a collision.

With every confrontation, the intensity between them flares even hotter until they’re not sure if it’s hatred they feel . . .or something else. Is it possible for two people with nothing in common to discover common ground and romance?

BITE ME

KITCHEN GODS BOOK 1

BETH BOLDEN

M/M ROMANCE

RELEASE DATE: 02.12.17

COVER DESIGN: AngstyG

AMAZON US

AMAZON UK

“You’re late,”Evan said, head bent towards his screen, fingers not missing a beat as he typed furiously.

“I know, I’m sorry, I thought I’d grab a coffee.”Miles slid into the chair next to Evan, but Evan still didn’t look up.

“Oh thanks for bringing me one too,”Evan said levelly, even though he had to know that Miles only had one cup in his hands.

“I . . .uh. . .didn’t know you wanted one?”Miles said sheepishly. He’d made it back into the building two minutes late, and then had raced to Evan’s cubicle, only to not find him there. He’d made the rounds, until one of the writers stopped him and said Evan was in the conference room, still working after the meeting had ended.

Why hadn’t it occurred to Miles to bring him coffee? He liked the good coffee place as much as anyone else. It was probably because instead of actively trying to charm anyone in particular, Miles just fallen into bed with willing people and had never wanted someone who didn’t want him back—or wanted him but fought it. Miles knew he was going to have learn to be more aware and less selfish if he was ever going to convince Evan to consider dating him. A great almost-blowjob wasn’t going to cut it. Not with Evan.

Sex was probably off the table now, even though Miles knew Evan wanted it. Miles wasn’t familiar with the sort of self-denial Evan practiced; if he wanted someone and the feeling was mutual, sex happened. It was an easy way to live, and an easy way to get off. Everything about Evan was complicated, but Miles wanted him anyway. Inexplicably.

“I’m sorry I didn’t bring you coffee,”Miles said when Evan remained silent, typing away, the staccato of the keys all the response he probably deserved.

“It’s okay.” Evan paused. “I wouldn’t expect you to be looking out for other people. Me, especially.”

And yeah, that was galling. Especially galling when Miles had spent the last half an hour discovering that nobody had probably ever really looked out for Evan before. It probably wouldn’t take an extraordinary amount of effort to make him feel special and considered. And Miles still couldn’t figure out how to meet even the lowest of expectations.

“I’m sorry, I’m . . .I know it isn’t an excuse, but I was with Lucy, and Chloe and Steph and . . .”Miles hesitated, trying to find the best way to say, sorry, we were gossiping about you and they told me you were a foster kid and I wish you had told me yourself.

All Miles knew was that was definitely not the way to break the news.

Bite Me is the first book in my series about professional chefs. But what if you’re not a Kitchen God, but more like a Kitchen Joke? Are you more of an Evan than a Miles?

You can still make a really tasty dessert that’s impressive while still being easy and very doable.

I adapted this recipe from a few different sources, but they turned out beautiful anyway!

Creamy Cheesecake Parfaits with Chocolate Whipped Cream & Raspberries

Recipe adapted from The Cookie Rookie & The First Year

For the cheesecake parfait:

For the Crust:

2-3 low-fat graham crackers, crushed

For the No-Bake Cheesecake:

1 cup Custard Yogurt, vanilla flavored
2 (8 ounce) packages low-fat cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
A pinch of kosher salt

To make the cheesecake mixture, place all cheesecake ingredients in a mixer bowl and beat until well the mixture is a smooth consistency, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. You can use a hand mixer or a spoon or whisk, as long as all the ingredients are room temperature.

For the chocolate whipped cream

2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup powdered sugar

First make sure your bowl is very cold. Put it in the freezer for a few minutes, even. Unlike the cheesecake part of the recipe, make sure your heavy cream is very cold. No need to chill the cocoa powder or the powdered sugar.
This is better to make with an electric hand mixer but can also be made by hand with a whisk if you have arms of steel (or would like to have arms of steel!). Place all ingredients in the chilled bowl and beat until stiff peaks form. Yes, stiff peaks. In the bowl, though, not anywhere else!

To assemble (Avengers Assemble!)

Pint of raspberries, washed.

Divide the crushed cookies/graham crackers between your glasses. I used really pretty martini glasses, but you could use small parfait glasses, or wine glasses, or whatever you have on hand that will let people see your pretty ingredients.
Spoon half the cheesecake mixture on top of the crushed cookies. Sprinkle in a few raspberries and top with the rest of the cheesecake mixture. Spoon the chocolate whipped cream over the top, and garnish with the raspberries.
Chill and then enjoy! Delicious and Miles is very impressed with your developing pastry skills!

I’ve read one other book by this author. And while I didn’t love it, I liked it well enough to try another. Plus this one involves the restaurant business and it is set in the California wine country. Two things I know well.

Miles is a pastry chef at world renowned restaurant in the Napa Valley. Unfortunately he is not the head pastry chef. So to get his creative juices flowing, he posts videos of himself baking. His videos catch the eye of a former chef turned internet show producer and Miles quits his job and moves to LA.

The majority of the book is spent with Miles acting like a brat while his producer tries to get them to work together. Yes, chefs are notoriously obnoxious. But I didn’t feel like Miles had the experience to equal the arrogance. A lot of bickering, then kissing, then more bickering.

Once they did start working together more- with Miles teaching Evan, I liked it quite a bit more. I needed more of that and less of the fighting. That got so tiresome. And the resolution to the problem of what the show would be like came at the very end. I definitely wanted more of that. What a perfect story line to incorporate the sexual tension, etc.

Readable, but not memorable.

3 pieces of eye candy

Beth Bolden lives in Portland, Oregon with her supportive husband. She wholly believes in Keeping Portland Weird, but wishes she didn’t have to make the yearly pilgrimage up to Seattle to watch her Boston Red Sox play baseball. She’s a fan of fandoms, and spends too much of her free time on tumblr.

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Wrapped With Love by Beth Bolden: Release Day Review, Blitz and Excerpt

November 14, 2017 by Denise

WRAPPED WITH LOVE

A FIVE POINTS NOVEL

BETH BOLDEN

M/M ROMACE

RELEASE DATE: 11.14.17

NFL player Jordan Christensen walks into Reed Ryan’s restaurant without a reservation. It isn’t the most serendipitous of meet-cute’s and they certainly aren’t the likeliest of romances, but over venison steaks and crème brûlée, they fall in love anyway.

Flash forward two years . . .

Jordan isn’t a football player anymore.

Reed sold his restaurant.

But even more drastically, they’ve lost each other.

When Reed moves to Los Angeles take a new job, he doesn’t realize Jordan now works at the same company. But Jordan definitely realizes how precious the second chance fate has bestowed on them is. He’s determined to make up for everything that fell apart the first time around, and it turns out he’s not the only one scheming to right old wrongs.

Starting a new career is always difficult but sharing office space—and big projects—with an old lover is particularly rough. Between impromptu Secret Santa exchanges, Christmas light viewings, and more tacos than even Reed can eat, the two former lovers have an eventful holiday season to navigate.

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

I hadn’t read anything by this author before, but usually if there is something sports related with it, I am all in (interestingly that is exactly how I stumbled upon the m/m genre in the first place), so I jumped on this one. Adding in a second chance romance, one of my favorite tropes to read, and it was definitely going to be mine to review.

Although I could tell fairly quickly into the story that it was part of a series, the author did a good job of keeping it a stand-alone, with other characters dropping in, or referencing past events with explanation. The reader could develop connections with the previous characters despite not having spent any time with them. (There is one character in particular-I won’t name names-who was a sweet matchmaker with a bit of a snarky side, I loved him!).

However, I will say I was confused about the relationship with the MC’s. I was never quite sure, throughout the book, exactly WHY they broke up. I found myself wondering when the “big reveal” as to the real reason was going to happen, and it never quite felt like I got it. It was clear they loved each other, and then they moved to LA once Jordan was traded from Chicago to Los Angeles. Then it is a bit murky for me. It seemed they had reasons, yet didn’t quite have enough of them to cause two men who were so much in love to suddenly just break up. Reed just left, and Jordan just let him, and they didn’t speak again until Reed turns up at a job where Jordan works (I still am unclear how Jordan was quite qualified to be a writer for a popular show). It doesn’t take long for them to begin to work their way back

This story takes the reader between their past relationship, and their current, and back again, so the reader can see how one thing caused another (the story about the Harry Potter scarf was awesome!). This helped me to understand some of where these men were coming from. In the end, though, I still felt like it was more that the men gave up on each other the first time, and wondered how they wouldn’t the second time.

I did enjoy the Secret Santa storyline-and the surprise around it, that I never saw coming-and it isn’t what you think!

In the end, 3 pieces of eye candy. I enjoyed it, and would like to read a full book from this author, as I did like her writing style as well.

improbable love

“So,” Rory continued, still shoving hummus into his face at an alarming rate, “how did you two meet? Because I gotta say, Reed barely sticks his head out of the kitchen for more than five minutes at a time.”

“We actually met at Garnet,” Jordan said, all gooey affection, like the first night they’d met, Reed hadn’t accidentally insulted him.

“Oh?” Rory asked, all creamy innocence because he knew how much Reed hated being summoned to the dining room.

“It’s actually really embarrassing. My agent knew how much I’d been wanting to visit Garnet, and just barged in, no reservation. And Reed,” Jordan glanced over, “was kind enough to give us the private dining room. Picked our menu for us and everything. I had to meet him, after all that trouble he went to.”

Rory burst out laughing and Reed shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He had a bad feeling about where this was going.

“You realize why he actually came out of the kitchen, right? Why he picked your menu?”

Jordan shook his head, a baffled expression on his handsome face.

Rory leaned forward. “Let me educate you about the ego of a chef, Christensen. Reed didn’t give you his best table and his best food out of the kindness of his heart. He did it because he wanted to put you in your place with his awesomeness.”

“I’m trying to remember why I invited you out,” Reed interrupted before Rory’s education could continue. But Jordan, intrigued, ignored him, and Rory was never going to stop now that he’d started. Reed flopped back in his chair, somewhat resigned to the inevitable embarrassment to come.

“Reed doesn’t have an ego.”

Rory’s head actually whipped back as he cackled loudly. “Oh, honey. All chefs do, at least the best ones. It’s how we get to the top. We’re insufferably certain of our own perfection. At least in the kitchen, anyway. Garnet is Reed’s castle, and he’s the king.”

Jordan turned to Reed, who could only hold his breath and pray that Rory’s comments hadn’t completely changed his opinion.

“Is that true?” he asked.

“I mean, you can’t be that surprised,” Reed said awkwardly. “Especially after what I said when we met.”

“I thought you were trying to hit on me!” Jordan exclaimed in mock outrage.

Reed flushed.

“I hate to say it,” Rory said, which was a complete lie because he looked like he was enjoying every second of this, “but Reed doesn’t have that kind of game.”

“So, how did you two meet?” Jordan asked, and Reed wasn’t dumb enough not to know he was changing the subject. He told himself it would be okay. Jordan couldn’t be angry about how they’d met, so many months later.

“A butchering class,” Reed said.

“No, not even close,” Rory said, taking another drink from his beer. “You aren’t going to get off this easy, Reed.”

Reed made a disgruntled sound. Of course Rory felt obligated to tell the whole story.

“Yes, it was a butchering class,” Rory said, gesturing with the bottle in his hand. “And you know, I’m formally trained. I mostly took it for fun. But here’s Reed, a newbie who’s read at least fifteen books on his own at this point. He spent at least half the class telling the instructor everything he was doing wrong.”

Reed couldn’t help but frown. Jordan glanced over, ever-attuned to Reed, and reached under the table to squeeze his knee.

“Was the instructor wrong?” Jordan asked loyally, even though if he knew Reed at all, he already knew the answer to his question.

Rory laughed and nodded. “Oh, he was insanely wrong. The rest of us were just ready to write this whole class off as a bad afternoon and go have some drinks later and laugh about it, but Reed was burning with the injustice of wasting an afternoon being taught what he knew was the wrong thing.”

“So he tried to teach the class.” Jordan glanced over, eyes brimming with affection. As if this story, which definitely wasn’t one of the greatest moments of Reed’s life, actually endeared him further.

“It was a power struggle, from beginning to end, but,” Rory said, tipping the bottle in a mock toast Reed’s direction, “you already know who came out on top.”

“He was wrong,” Reed felt justified in adding again.

Jordan’s hand settled warm and firm back on Reed’s knee. Reed jumped, nearly upsetting his own beer. “I wouldn’t expect any less, sweetheart,” he said quietly.

Beth Bolden lives in Portland, Oregon with her supportive husband and their beloved cat. She wholly believes in Keeping Portland Weird, but wishes she didn’t have to make the yearly pilgrimage up to Seattle to watch her Boston Red Sox play baseball. She’s a fan of fandoms, and spends too much of her free time on tumblr.

Beth has been writing practically since she learned the alphabet. Unfortunately, her first foray into novel writing, titled Big Bear with Sparkly Earrings, wasn’t a bestseller, but hope springs eternal. She’s published three novels and two short stories, with her next novel, The Rainbow Clause, releasing in April 2017.

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