Lex Chase's Blog, page 13
October 10, 2015
Plotting a Fairy Tale at Aidee Ladnier’s Blog!
Hello Internet! For today’s installment of the Bayou Fairy Tale Blog Tour, you’ll find me hanging out at Aidee Ladnier’s blog where I talk about the fairy tale inspiration behind our hapless heroes Taylor Hatfield and Corentin Devereaux. And I plead my case of why Sleeping Beauty is awesome. Or… not so awesome. But gimme a break. Leave me with my precious flower! Princesses and huntsmen and oh my!
And Thursday I was over at Sinfully Addicted to All Male Romance with an author reading from Bayou Fairy Tale. We get a peek into Corentin’s inner workings, and his issues about providing for Taylor. It’s a long one, and trust me you can just kick back and listen to the audio unless you want to see my lovely face (and the Easter eggs in the background. The Toothless plushie is obvious. Can you find the others?)
Bayou Fairy Tale drops on October 19th! Are you ready for the trip? Pre-order at these lovely links!
Dreamspinner Press
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
All Romance eBooks
And don’t forget! The giveaway is still on! Here’s what you’re playing for…
How about this pretty necklace?
And this totes adorbs Corentin mini journal? Lookit the widdle baby bungee cord!
A photo posted by Lex Chase (@lexachase) on Oct 5, 2015 at 11:42pm PDT
And lots of other cool goodies! Take a bite of the apple with some lovely Snow White perfume and awesome Lex Chase swag.
You wanna enter? Get started right here!
US residents only please, but for International residents, you’ll get a lovely 20 dollar Amazon Gift Card!
Don’t forget about the multiple ways to enter! Not only do you need to comment, you can tweet! Use the hashtag #BayouFairyTale! Or enter via Instagram!
As always! Keep track of the tour stops here!
Bayou Fairy Tale Tour Stops:
10/1 – Tali Spencer
10/3 – The Novel Approach
10/5 – Gay List Book Reviews
10/6 – Bru Baker
10/7 – Charlie Cochet’s Purple Rose Teahouse
10/8 – Sinfully Addicted to All Male Romance
10/10 – Aidee Ladnier
10/13 – Prism Book Alliance
10/15 – C.S. Poe
10/16 – Joyfully Jay
10/17 – Bayou Fairy Tale Facebook Chat
10/19 – Bayou Fairy Tale Release Day!
October 8, 2015
[Flash Fiction Friday] Avon Gale presents “Risk/Return”
Hello Internet! Please welcome newcomer Avon Gale to Flash Fiction Friday! In today’s tale we meet tag-team wrestlers looking to better themselves for life outside the ring. Even Dwayne Johnson dropped The Rock he carried and didn’t look back.
Risk/Return
by Avon Gale
The risk/return tradeoff is the balance between the desire for the lowest possible risk and the highest possible return.
On Saturday nights, when the lights fall like hot like summer rain around him, swathed in a trench coat and collared by spikes, with his arms stretched up in the sky bellowing like a storm…his name is Scourge.
But on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9:15 to 10:00, he’s Jason Devlin, Intro to Finance Student, at a local community college.
Jason walks into the classroom with his head down, book and notebook clutched tight in his hands. Seeing the classroom makes his heart sink. The desks are chairs with half-moon-shaped tables built into them, and they are not made for men of Jason’s size. Professional wrestlers are supposed to dominate spaces, but the desk wins this particular match hands-down.
Jason takes a seat in the back and is shifting around uncomfortably when he spies a familiar face across the room.
On Saturday nights, David Thornton is called The Wraith and he’s Jason’s tag-team partner. He is six-foot-six, all height and angles where Jason is broadness and bulk. His fair hair is bleached blond, along with his eyebrows, and he usually wears contacts that make his eyes look all white, like a zombie.
Today, he’s in jeans and a t-shirt, his hair is hidden by a Royals cap, and he’s wearing glasses instead of contacts. He makes eye contact with Jason and smiles, then unfolds himself in his own awkward way from his desk, and comes to sit next to him.
* * *
“So,” Jason asks, when they escape their first class and make their way outside, to the open air where there is plenty of room for them both. “What are you doing here?”
David shrugs. His schtick in the ring is that he never talks, just screams. He’s got a good scream, high and loud without being shrieky. Jason’s always wondered how long it took him to get that down, and how he practiced without having the cops called on him by concerned neighbors, but he’s never asked.
“Don’t want to end up like Bryce,” he says, looking around furtively, as if Bryce Lawson (stage name: Shadow Slycer) will somehow materialize next to them. “Figure if I get some kind of degree, y’know. It’ll give me something to do. After.”
Jason nods. He knows what David means, about Bryce. He also knows exactly what David means about after. They are not due for long careers. Even Dwayne Johnson dropped The Rock he carried and didn’t look back.
There’s only so much attention to parcel out in the United Wrestling League. Jason and David are a relatively new team, and like all new teams, they start off as heels. If they capture the elusive adoration of the audience they may become bona-fide villains, or do the impossible and become heroes. Bryce Lawson started out as part of a tag-team, made his way up to villain and was, thanks to his crowd-appeal, promoted to hero. But he left and took his celebrity with him, and decided to make a movie with two former Saturday Night Live alums. The movie tanked, and took Bryce’s career down into the cold depths of relative obscurity.
The last anyone heard, he was doing House of Harsh Reality on the Reality TV Network, living with a bunch of other so-called “celebrities” who weren’t even good enough to qualify as D-list. They didn’t have a letter. They probably weren’t even on a list.
Bryce made good money — not a lot, but enough — and then it was gone, thrown away on tacky McMansions and cars and whatever else people indulge in when they suddenly have more money than they really need.
Before his stint with the UWL, Jason was a bouncer at a few bars around town. An endless parade of girls in short skirts, shivering because they refused to wear coats, arms wrapped desperately around themselves as they waited in line. Inside, the club was stifling and looked like a shithole with the lights on. But if anyone was still there when the lights came back, they were too drunk to care.
Jason wants Scourge to be popular, though he doesn’t know how he’s going to be a hero with that name. They might change it. They do that, a lot, slide names on and off people like clothing that can be discarded on a whim. He provides the body and the bellows, and the UWL provides the rest.
“What’d you do before?” Jason asks. No need to clarify before what?
David shrugs. He’s got a nice smile, shy and sweet. “Not a lot. Worked at haunted houses, mostly. You know. Creepy undertaker guy in a suit, that kind of thing.”
No wonder he’s so good at screaming.
They sit down next to a fountain, watching the few students left on campus meander by. Intro to Finance is a summer class, and not a popular one. One student, nineteen if he’s a day, walks by in a UWL Matomic Power shirt. The front has Bruiser’s face plastered all over it. Jason can see himself and Wraith in the far background, his own crossed-arm countenance decked out in chains, Wraith a blurry smudge of white hair and freaky eyes.
The kid passes by and doesn’t recognize them.
* * *
Saturday nights are when they perform, but there’s a lot of down-time. Scourge and Wraith take to the mat with their usual villainous flair when they’re summoned to the ring, and receive a good amount of boos and cheers as befit their personas.
When they’re out of the lights and away from the crowd, they find a quiet place to sit together at a table, heads bent over their finance books, pencils scratching on paper.
* * *
The key to becoming Somebody in the UWL is to become a headliner, like Bruiser. Someone pictured in the forefront of the shirt, not crammed indistinctively in the back.
Wraith and Scourge are good enough for action figures and some trading cards. Jason always thinks about sending one of the figures to his nephews, but he never does. The little plastic figurine bears little resemblance to him, anyway.
Besides. Wraith’s is a lot cooler, with those eyes.
All the wrestlers receive monthly scripts for the show, which are generally guidelines of how the brass want the matches to go, with room for improvisation. Jason and David are allowed one win a month, usually, to see how they test with audiences. Improv isn’t easy for Scourge and Wraith, considering they spend most of their time in the ring yelling and screaming, respectively.
But somehow, this month they’re going to win twice.
“Guess we’re impressing them,” says Jason that Monday in Finance class, trying unsuccessfully to arrange himself in the small desk next to David.
David’s glasses are dirty with spots. He pulls them off and wipes them on his t-shirt. “Must be,” he says, and smiles.
* * *
On their first test, Jason gets a 78, David, a 79. Not too bad.
The next month’s script has them involved in a plotline featuring Bruiser, which is something. Something important.
They met at Jason’s apartment to study, with House of Harsh Reality muted in the background.
* * *
In the next Matomic Power pay-per-view special, Scourge and Wraith are scripted to take down Bruiser.
Jason and David both score in the high eighties on their next Intro to Finance test.
The new t-shirts hit stores a few weeks before Matomic Power airs. One of the kids in their finance class asks for their autographs and snaps a few selfies.
While they’re studying for the final, David leans across the expanse of books and papers spread out on his kitchen table, and kisses Jason. Shyly, eyes wide behind the cheap frames of his ever-blurry glasses, like he’s waiting for the crowd to react to this very unexpected moment of improvisation.
His eyes are blue. Jason closes his own and kisses him back.
Unexpected it may be, but it’s definitely not unwanted.
* * *
Their tag team is officially no more when the ratings propel them into different roles, different costumes. Better action figures and better t-shirts. Neither of which, Jason thinks, look any more like him than the last. But that’s all right.
He and David each get an A-minus in Finance. It’s worth it.
Reading at Sinfully Addicted to All Male Romance!
Hello Internet! Today’s installment in the Bayou Fairy Tale Blog Tour takes me to Sinfully Addicted to All Male Romance with an author reading from the book. It’s a long one, and trust me you can just kick back and listen to the audio unless you want to see my lovely face. This one’s for all you Corentin fans out there!
Personally, I’m pretty proud of this reading now that I have more experience under my belt. I did my first reading in front of a live audience at GRL last year, and realize I read way better in front of an audience than I do in front of the little blinky light of my webcam. Once I got in my head there will be other living people out there watching the vid, I got into the swing of things.
Yesterday I was hanging out at Charlie Cochet’s Purple Rose Tea House and sharing one of the icons of the Fairy Tales of the Open Road series: Corentin Devereaux’s monstrous journal. We learn a bit about their real world inspiration, and a bit about how they work in the story. Also you can totally win a cute biddy baby one of your very own! Details below!
Bayou Fairy Tale drops on October 19th! Are you ready for the trip? Pre-order at these lovely links!
Dreamspinner Press
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
All Romance eBooks
And don’t forget! The giveaway is still on! Here’s what you’re playing for…
How about this pretty necklace?
And this totes adorbs Corentin mini journal? Lookit the widdle baby bungee cord!
A photo posted by Lex Chase (@lexachase) on Oct 5, 2015 at 11:42pm PDT
And lots of other cool goodies! Take a bite of the apple with some lovely Snow White perfume and awesome Lex Chase swag.
You wanna enter? Get started right here!
US residents only please, but for International residents, you’ll get a lovely 20 dollar Amazon Gift Card!
Don’t forget about the multiple ways to enter! Not only do you need to comment, you can tweet! Use the hashtag #BayouFairyTale! Or enter via Instagram!
As always! Keep track of the tour stops here!
Bayou Fairy Tale Tour Stops:
10/1 – Tali Spencer
10/3 – The Novel Approach
10/5 – Gay List Book Reviews
10/6 – Bru Baker
10/7 – Charlie Cochet’s Purple Rose Teahouse
10/8 – Sinfully Addicted to All Male Romance
10/10 – Aidee Ladnier
10/13 – Prism Book Alliance
10/15 – C.S. Poe
10/16 – Joyfully Jay
10/17 – Bayou Fairy Tale Facebook Chat
10/19 – Bayou Fairy Tale Release Day!
October 7, 2015
Take A Look, It’s In A Book with Charlie Cochet
Hello Internet! The Bayou Fairy Tale Blog Tour is keeping things rolling with Charlie Cochet’s Purple Rose Tea House. Today, I’m talking about the super swoon-worthy huntsman Corentin Devereaux and one of the most iconic artifacts of the Fairy Tales of the Open Road series. The journal. You don’t want to miss that one, I promise. And you can even win a widdle baby mini journal!
Yesterday I was over at Bru Baker’s blog talking about all kinds of tasty eats and iconic flavors of Bayou Fairy Tale. I am all about the cafe au laits. I swear. I could so go for one right now!
Bayou Fairy Tale is coming at you October 19th! Have you gotten on the boat yet? You better jump on it! Pre-order at these lovely links!
Dreamspinner Press
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
All Romance eBooks
And don’t forget! The giveaway is still on! Here’s what you’re playing for…
How about this pretty necklace?
And this totes adorbs Corentin mini journal? Lookit the widdle baby bungee cord!
A photo posted by Lex Chase (@lexachase) on Oct 5, 2015 at 11:42pm PDT
And lots of other cool goodies! Take a bite of the apple with some lovely Snow White perfume and awesome Lex Chase swag.
You wanna enter? Get started right here!
US residents only please, but for International residents, you’ll get a lovely 20 dollar Amazon Gift Card!
Don’t forget about the multiple ways to enter! Not only do you need to comment, you can tweet! Use the hashtag #BayouFairyTale! Or enter via Instagram!
As always! Keep track of the tour stops here!
Bayou Fairy Tale Tour Stops:
10/1 – Tali Spencer
10/3 – The Novel Approach
10/5 – Gay List Book Reviews
10/6 – Bru Baker
10/7 – Charlie Cochet’s Purple Rose Teahouse
10/8 – Sinfully Addicted to All Male Romance
10/10 – Aidee Ladnier
10/13 – Prism Book Alliance
10/15 – C.S. Poe
10/16 – Joyfully Jay
10/17 – Bayou Fairy Tale Facebook Chat
10/19 – Bayou Fairy Tale Release Day!
October 6, 2015
Eating Through The Bayou with Bru Baker!
Hello Internet! The Bayou Fairy Tale Blog Tour is powering through this week like a boss starting with Bru Baker! Today I’m talking about the tasty treats that you absolutely must eat when on the road! Did someone say beignets?
Yesterday, I was over at Gay List Book Reviews with a double feature post for all the Atticus fans where I talk about Atticus and his true love Idi the Witchking. Sparkle on my Precious Snowflakes!
Bayou Fairy Tale is coming at you October 19th! And if you haven’t joined the party yet, you can pre-order your copies here:
Dreamspinner Press
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
All Romance eBooks
And don’t forget! The giveaway is still on! Here’s what you’re playing for…
How about this pretty necklace?
And this totes adorbs Corentin mini journal? Lookit the widdle baby bungee cord!
A photo posted by Lex Chase (@lexachase) on Oct 5, 2015 at 11:42pm PDT
And lots of other cool goodies! Take a bite of the apple with some lovely Snow White perfume and awesome Lex Chase swag.
You wanna enter? Get started right here!
US residents only please, but for International residents, you’ll get a lovely 20 dollar Amazon Gift Card!
Don’t forget about the multiple ways to enter! Not only do you need to comment, you can tweet! Use the hashtag #BayouFairyTale! Or enter via Instagram!
As always! Keep track of the tour stops here!
Bayou Fairy Tale Tour Stops:
10/1 – Tali Spencer
10/3 – The Novel Approach
10/5 – Gay List Book Reviews
10/6 – Bru Baker
10/7 – Charlie Cochet’s Purple Rose Teahouse
10/8 – Sinfully Addicted to All Male Romance
10/10 – Aidee Ladnier
10/13 – Prism Book Alliance
10/15 – C.S. Poe
10/16 – Joyfully Jay
10/17 – Bayou Fairy Tale Facebook Chat
10/19 – Bayou Fairy Tale Release Day!
October 5, 2015
Frozen Hearts at Gay List Book Reviews!
Hello Internet! The Bayou Fairy Tale Blog Tour continues over at Gay List Book Reviews! And you better settle in for an awesome double feature post featuring the villainous power couple Atticus Hatfield and Idi the Witchking. This one’s for all the the Atticus fans. Sparkle on my Precious Snowflakes!
And if you missed it, I was over at The Novel Approach with an awesome playlist to make you whistle while you work! Taylor also popped by for a bit to share a bit of his misadventures through his crazy thing called a life that he cannot possibly make up.
Have you pre-ordered your copy yet?
Dreamspinner Press
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
All Romance eBooks
And don’t forget! The giveaway is still on! Here’s what you’re playing for…
How about this pretty necklace?
And this totes adorbs Corentin mini journal?
A photo posted by Lex Chase (@lexachase) on Sep 29, 2015 at 2:08pm PDT
And lots of other cool goodies! Take a bite of the apple with some lovely Snow White perfume and awesome Lex Chase swag.
You wanna enter? Get started right here!
US residents only please, but for International residents, you’ll get a lovely 20 dollar Amazon Gift Card!
Don’t forget about the multiple ways to enter! Not only do you need to comment, you can tweet! Use the hashtag #BayouFairyTale! Or enter via Instagram!
As always! Keep track of the tour stops here!
Bayou Fairy Tale Tour Stops:
10/1 – Tali Spencer
10/3 – The Novel Approach
10/5 – Gay List Book Reviews
10/6 – Bru Baker
10/7 – Charlie Cochet’s Purple Rose Teahouse
10/8 – Sinfully Addicted to All Male Romance
10/10 – Aidee Ladnier
10/13 – Prism Book Alliance
10/15 – C.S. Poe
10/16 – Joyfully Jay
10/17 – Bayou Fairy Tale Facebook Chat
10/19 – Bayou Fairy Tale Release Day!
Fan Squee! Fairy Tales of the Open Road Tea!
So there I am, just chilling this morning checking my email and I discover Tumblr user a-quick-drink made fandom tea blends at Adagio Teas for Fairy Tales of the Open Road! I gasped so loud my Mom thought I stabbed myself on something.
JUST. OH. MY. GOD. LOOK.
Look at these labels! So lovely!
There’s just Taylor and Corentin for now, and Taylor is sadly out of stock. But more will be coming!
Want some?
Buy Here at Adagio Teas!
I’m always floored by my readers. You guys are just the best. And I fail on every point of being the Super Chill, Cool, Calm, and Collected Author. I’m just as much of an awkward turtle as anyone else. So forgive me for shattering your illusions of me being some picture of grace. I trip over my own shadow guys.
You know you’ve made it when someone makes fandom tea for your books! #LifeGoals!
October 3, 2015
The Sounds of the Bayou At The Novel Approach!
Hello Internet! The Bayou Fairy Tale Blog Tour continues over at The Novel Approach today with a little fun somethin’ somethin’ for ya. How about a little playlist to make your Saturday chores go a little faster? Is anyone a fan of twisted Disney song covers like I am? Oh yeah. You should check that out! Plus our favorite self-proclaimed professional slacker dude princess Taylor makes an appearance.
If you missed the first spot on the tour over at Tali Spencer’s Blog I shared a super advanced sneak peek at a whole new project coming 2017. What happens when mankind as we know it goes extinct and a new race evolves? Our hero, Iris, is one of them and desperate to uncover the mystery of the ancient race called “man.” Check out a sneak peek at Grow coming 2017 from DSP Publications!
And don’t forget about the awesome giveaway if I do say so myself. Wanna know what you’re playing for?
How about this pretty necklace?
And this totes adorbs Corentin mini journal?
A photo posted by Lex Chase (@lexachase) on Sep 29, 2015 at 2:08pm PDT
And lots of other cool goodies! Take a bite of the apple with some lovely Snow White perfume and awesome Lex Chase swag.
You wanna enter? Get started right here!
US residents only please, but for International residents, you’ll get a lovely 20 dollar Amazon Gift Card!
Don’t forget about the multiple ways to enter! Not only do you need to comment, you can tweet! Use the hashtag #BayouFairyTale! Or enter via Instagram!
As always! Keep track of the tour stops here!
Bayou Fairy Tale Tour Stops:
10/1 – Tali Spencer
10/3 – The Novel Approach
10/5 – Gay List Book Reviews
10/6 – Bru Baker
10/7 – Charlie Cochet’s Purple Rose Teahouse
10/8 – Sinfully Addicted to All Male Romance
10/10 – Aidee Ladnier
10/13 – Prism Book Alliance
10/15 – C.S. Poe
10/16 – Joyfully Jay
10/17 – Bayou Fairy Tale Facebook Chat
10/19 – Bayou Fairy Tale Release Day!
October 2, 2015
[Flash Fiction Friday] Ki Brightly presents “Sand Art”
Hello Internet! And welcome back Ki Brightly to Flash Fiction Friday! She’s here with “Sand Art,” a cute little story where we meet a lifeguard having the Worst Day Ever. That is until he meets the most peculiar sand sculptor.
Please enjoy!
Sand Art
by Ki Brightly
After my morning swim I stop into the office like I usually do before my shift and sneak around to avoid my boss, Dan. I change into my red shorts and scratch at my short beard. He hates me. Scorn a man once on a dance floor and he never forgets apparently. I check the work log and there’s a nasty Post It note waiting for me, as usual.
THERE WAS TRASH ON YOUR STRETCH OF BEACH AGAIN. I’M WRITING YOU UP. ONE MORE AND YOU’RE DONE.
I rub my temple with my pointer finger as I read three more bitchy notes. As far as I know I’m the only person who gets them, and I’m the only one who actually takes the time to clean my beach at the end of my shift on my own time. No good deed goes unpunished. I storm out of the office and don’t bother to take the obnoxious lime green notes out of the book this time. I don’t care if people coming in later see them.
“What the…” I mutter to myself later as I stand at the wooden station overlooking my stretch of sand with my whistle twirling on its string in my fingers. I have the good spot today, the hut with a roof, rather than baking in a chair on stilts. My arms hurt from my marathon of laps earlier. I roll my shoulders to loosen them. A man with a bucket, a bunch of mini shovels, and too much free time on his hands for a Friday morning is making what looks like two huge arms on the beach. They’re at least five times as big as he is. And he’s digging a huge fucking hole to do it.
Sweat drips down my chest and back as I step out into the spiteful sunshine and stomp toward him. As I get closer I realize he’s a cutie. I’ve seen him around before, but he’s outdone himself today in an electric green speedo. For a second it reminds me of getting passive aggressively reamed out, but it pops against his deep tan and keeps my eyes firmly on that section of his body. As I get close to him my shadow covers the finger he’s meticulously creating. He glances over his slim shoulder with a smile on his square, no nonsense face and my heart flips.
“What, exactly, are you doing?” I ask rather than telling him to knock it off the way I was going to.
“Creating a sand sculpture.” His voice is a startling, deep scrape of sound that mimics the small plastic shovel in his hand intently carving out a fingernail. I scratch through the hair on my chest, damp with sweat, and watch him work. I do a quick scan of the beach to make sure no one is drowning while I shoot the shit.
“It’s arms. Why are you making arms?”
His eyes widen and he booms out a laugh. “I’m not making anything. I’m discovering.” His muscles bunch and flex in interesting ways as he works and I shake my head at myself. Time to stop ogling and get back to work. I try to do as little staring as possible, but…it’s the beach. It almost seems rude not to look when people go to so much effort to strip down.
“Whose are they?”
His eyebrows shoot toward his hair line as he stands with his bucket and heads toward the gently lapping waves. “The Venus de Milo.” He says it like it makes perfect sense and I snicker to myself. What a fruit loop. He seems harmless. My gaze follows him, but then I notice some men beyond the buoys. Damn it. I whistle at them and they pretend not to hear me, which always pisses me off. I stalk toward the shoreline and blow my whistle as loud as I can while waving them in and eventually they start to move closer to shore. When I get back to the disembodied arms the man is dumping water onto some sand and mixing it.
“Uh…okay. Well, pal, you can’t dig up this much of the sand. I’m going to get yelled at if the supervisor comes by.” My stomach clenches. My whole goal is to not get hassled, and well, not have anyone drown, while I’m at work. Dan would probably give this guy ten bucks for giving him another reason to tear me down.
“So, you’re going to have to keep coming back here to bother me until I fill in the hole I’m making?”
“Pretty much,” I shrug.
“Hmm…” He says non-commitally with a smile. His eyes sweep me and I blink. No. He did not just check me out. Did he? He shots me a cheeky smile. I retreat quickly toward my life guard station with a blush. Oh, hell. I spend the rest of my morning watching the hole on my stretch of beach get bigger and nervously listening out for the drone of the engine on the Gator Dan drives around to check on us when he can bother to drag himself out of the air conditioning in the office. It’s hotter than the outer circle of the sun today, so hopefully he’ll stay put.
Around lunch time the arms start to draw a crowd and by one o’clock there’s another group digging up the sand nearby and I groan. There’s no one to replace me for my break today, so I whistle and wait for people to drag themselves out of the water, cursing me the whole time I’m sure. I make my way to the man on the beach again. This time he has a camera out taking photographs of his work. Sure enough, there are two perfect, huge arms made of sand. I’m not sure what the group next to him is making, but it seems like they’ve just started and the mound is already taller than my head.
“Excuse me?” I try to sound nice. I get a flash of a white teeth from Mr. Speedo.
“Here,” he says thrusting his camera at a bystander. “Take one with us.” Somehow I get pulled into his side. He’s a bit shorter than me and I notice his eyes glitter a warm golden green that almost doesn’t seem possible. It’s natural to wrap my arm around his shoulders. Three seconds later my frustration is immortalized.
“I’m going to post this online. You don’t mind, do you?” he asks, but he’s ignoring me, fingers already flying over the screen on the back of his camera.
“Sir, you have to put the sand back now.” I eye the crowd and don’t like it. I’m going to have to call in for help soon, and then Dan will come out here…fuck.
“Elliot.”
“What?”
“I’m Elliot.” Those pretty eyes fill with good humor and I gulp down another demand that he make my life easier. Hell.
“Manni,” I say distractedly as I watch a few people slip back into the water even though I haven’t given the clear whistle. My head feels like it’s going to pop off and I hold my breath. All of their lives are my problem. Why don’t people ever realize that before they get in the water? I force myself to take a deep breath.
“Glad I finally know your name.”
“What?” I jerk my attention to him and he’s smiling again. It seems to be a permanent fixture on him. I’m hotter all the sudden. I swipe at my forehead. Damned sun.
“I’ve been coming here for a month. I was considering drowning to get your attention,” he says, all shiny good cheer. I glance out over the water. Guys aren’t usually so forward with me outside of the few gay spots in town. It’s kind of …nice, in a way. Weird too. His eyes do an exaggerated up and down on me and this time I’m the one laughing.
“Oh…uh…seriously?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh.” My cheeks heat and I use the excuse of not letting people die to look away from him.
“So, are you?”
“What?”
“Into this?” I can’t tell if he’s talking about his gorgeous self or the sand art, but I nod dumbly anyway and earn a deep chuckle.
“Manuel!” Dan calls from the wooden station behind me. My muscles clench and I wince. I’m not a small guy, and Dan isn’t either. I think that’s part of his problem with me. He feels the need to try to big dog me. I walk over and he meets me halfway arm flung out toward the crowd around the sand art.
“Why didn’t you call this in?”
“The crowd just started to build up. I was going to.” I force myself to meet his steely eyes. He has on a goofy sun hat and the standard red shorts, but unlike me he’s all gym bulk on his upper half. His smile has a knife edge to it, and I think that’s what has always steered me away from him.
“You’re this close to getting fired,” he yells and I can hear some whispers and titters behind me.
“I asked them to move along, but they didn’t,” I mumble.
“If you can’t deal with a situation, then you’re not guard material,” he growls at me and I sigh, looking out over the water dappled with golden sparkles. I love this job, but is it really worth it?
“Then I guess I’m not,” I say in exasperation. “You take this stretch. I’m going for a swim.”
“You’re quitting?” Dan asks, with a nearly gleeful grin.
“Yeah. You don’t have to worry that I’ll one up you anymore.” I give him the finger, kick off my sandals, and head toward the water.
“Give me your whistle,” he yells after me. I laugh. I paid for the damned whistle. I’d rather drop it in the bottom of the late. I slip the string holding it around my neck as I splash into the water then set a heavy pace for myself doing laps. I hit the unguarded section of the beach and keep going. I probably swim about a mile and a half before I stumble out of the water where I started exhausted. An argument is in progress that I honestly didn’t expect. The crowd from the beach has surrounded Dan and to my utter delight they seem to be yelling at him.
“We decided to come out here. The art community does a lot for Erie,” a spunky little man with a bubblegum pink hair do and zebra striped board shorts says hotly to Dan.
“You will put this sand back and go,” Dan bellows. They laugh and more people seem to be arriving.
“I work for the newspaper,” one man from the back shouts.
“I have your little rant recorded. We’ll see who’s losing their job,” Elliot says. He gets into Dan’s grill and I’m surprised when the big man shoves him. There’s a scuffle and some punches are thrown. I race over thinking I’m going to have to save Elliot from getting pounded into the dirt, but before I can get there several other guys have jumped in to separate them.
Elliot swipes at some blood leaking out of his nose as he pulls up his speedos which had slipped down a bit on his nicely rounded butt. Smoke tickles my nose and I notice someone is starting a fire down the beach. I sigh. They’re going to get chased out at this rate, for sure. The park rangers won’t let them get away with that. “You had to work for this guy?” Elliot demands. My heart swells. I’ve wanted to punch Dan for a while.
“I’m pressing charges,” my former boss yells over the heads of the people separating him from us. Elliot shakes his head.
“My Dad has wanted me to come to work with him for a while,” I take a deep breath and grab his hand to get his attention back on me. “Let’s go. Let’s drive around the peninsula. I’ll buy a beer for you.”
“Yeah?” he asks, the corner of his mouth going up. I gather my courage, lean down, and plant a kiss on his cheek. He blinks at me as a laugh bubbles out of him.
“I’ve wanted to punch him for ages. You’re my hero. I’ve got a first aid kit in my car. Let’s go.”
His dark chuckle sends a wave of anticipation through me. I help him pick up his buckets and shovels. Hand in hand we walk off the beach. I should be upset, I guess, that this menace of a man showed up in my life today, but somewhere deep inside where I haven’t relaxed all summer I’m unwinding, and it feels good.
If you liked this story, check out Threefold Love by Ki Brightly.
Ki Brightly’s Blog:
September 30, 2015
The Bayou Fairy Tale Tour is ON!
Hello Internet! The Bayou Fairy Tale tour starts today! I’ve got all kinds of surprises up my sleeve for you guys along the way as we explore this world of Enchants, witches, pixies, and dragons. Daring huntsmen, badass princesses, magic, wonder, angst, and mayhem. Total, total mayhem. And a hell of a lotta feels! And a flippin’ awesome giveaway!
We’re kicking things off today over at Tali Spencer’s Blog!
So, sit back, relax, sip your cafe au laits, and eat a fuckton of beignets.
Mmmm… Beignets…
Genre: Urban Fantasy Fairy Tale
Series: The Screw-Up Princess and Skillful Huntsman Trilogy: Book Two (A Fairy Tales of the Open Road Novel)
Length: Novel
Published: October 19, 2015
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
ISBN: 978-1-62798-499-7
Buy: Paperback or eBook
Blurb:
Modern day fairy tale princess Taylor Hatfield has problems. One: he’s a guy. Two: he’s Sleeping Beauty, the most useless princess in existence. Throw in his true love, Corentin Devereaux, a huntsman descended from child-eating witches, and Taylor’s younger brother, Atticus—this generation’s Snow White—who tried to kill him. That didn’t go so hot.
For two years, Taylor and Corentin live their Happily Ever After. But Corentin’s cursed to lose his memory every seven days, including his life with Taylor—a painful reminder that he can’t provide for the man he loves. Taylor insists Corentin has the strength to succeed, and when Taylor discovers a way to break the curse, he is more than willing to pay the cost.
When an enchanted blizzard devastates Corentin’s hometown of New Orleans, Taylor is convinced Atticus is to blame and grows desperate to find him amidst the Big Easy turned frozen wasteland. Corentin believes Taylor is chasing a ghost while he chases the ghosts of his own past. Old tensions scratch open scars, leaving both to wonder if they have each other’s best interests at heart. The clock is ticking until Corentin loses his memory, and the rabbit hole goes so deep they may never come out.
Bayou Fairy Tale Tour Stops:
10/1 – Tali Spencer
10/3 – The Novel Approach
10/5 – Gay List Book Reviews
10/6 – Bru Baker
10/7 – Charlie Cochet’s Purple Rose Teahouse
10/8 – Sinfully Addicted to All Male Romance
10/10 – Aidee Ladnier
10/13 – Prism Book Alliance
10/15 – C.S. Poe
10/16 – Joyfully Jay
10/17 – Bayou Fairy Tale Facebook Chat
10/19 – Bayou Fairy Tale Release Day!
I’m having a Down on the Bayou Giveaway where one lucky winner will walk away with a magical fairy tale prize pack! From Corentin’s mini journal, to a delicious bottle of Disney’s Snow White perfume, Lex Chase swag annnndddd….
This lovely necklace!
US residents only please, but for International residents, you’ll get a lovely 20 dollar Amazon Gift Card!
Don’t forget about the multiple ways to enter! You can tweet, tag, and share using the hashtag #BayouFairyTale! Or enter via Instagram!
