Life is always looking for ways to screw you over. Scott McDermott survived the foster care system and knows better than to let anyone close, but Liam Walsh is his one vulnerability. Twice Scott let down his guard, and twice Liam vanished from Scott’s life.
So when Scott comes face-to-face with Liam for the first time in six years, he punches Liam in the nose. Only after Scott’s friend—and Baltimore County police officer—Jamie reads him the riot act does Scott discover that in the intervening years Liam has been to war and lost his leg.
Liam hasn’t had the easiest life either. He took care of his drug-addicted mom when she was unable to take care of herself. He’s fallen in love with Scott twice, but when Liam saw Scott going down the same path as his mother, he left. The lesson that he can’t save everyone has been a painful one for Liam to learn. Maybe what he and Scott had can’t ever be fixed.
Scott and Liam have never fallen out of love—which becomes obvious when they start working together—but what will make this time any different from all the others? Will the third time really be a charm?
Buy links: Dreamspinner | Amazon
Cat gives this one 5 Meows with a 3 Purr heat index...
Scott was so surprised to see his ex at a car show that he decked him in the nose. That's how he found out that Liam had been in the Army, Aphganistan and lost his leg.
Liam was shocked and confused to see Scott. He knew if he ever did see him that Scott would be angry with him but seeing him he realizes that he is still in love with him and probably has no chance of rekindling anything.. besides, he has a good boyfriend, He finds out Scott is about to lose his home and have to ell his dream car so he works out a way to help him anonymously.
Scott gets a new job working in a dive bar doing whatever is needed under the table pay and sleeping in the storeroom on a cot. He is used to worse, having grown up in the foster system so he adjusts so he can save to pay off his debt, get an apartment and open a garage of his own. He never dreams that Liam is part of a band that rehearses at the bar he works.
I LOOOVed this story. I love me a bad boy and Scott was very edgy, but with a good heart. I loved all of the characters, though we get lots of cameos from the past books( I haven't read them all so you can read this as a standalone)These characters add a lot t the story. Though Jamie has a major part as Scotts sort of best friend...I loved Eli, he adds some wit to the angst of the story.
The story is angsty, with some heat. It is a page-turner and I found myself staying up all night to finish the story. If you like second chance romance, bad boys, muscle cars, ex-military men, broken men, and hot man-love you will love this!
Excerpt...
Chapter 1
Twelve years ago
THE NEW kid, Liam, was a fucking punk. Everyone knew not to touch Scott’s stuff.
Scott ran his tongue on the inside of his fat lip. He’d won anyway. Hit the motherfucker in his eye, mouth, and gut before Derrick pulled them apart. Scott shot a look over at the chair three spots away where Liam sat. Fuckface smiled back at him.
Scott rolled his eyes and went back to staring at the door to the conference room. Some social worker was supposed to show up and counsel them on resolving their issues. Scott had been through the drill before. He thought things were pretty simple. Don’t touch me or my stuff and there won’t be any fucking issues to resolve.
But Scott had done a few stints in the hole, which was what everyone at St. Bennie’s called the lockdown rooms over the gym. A mattress and a bucket to piss in and food when someone got around to bringing it. He’d play the game with the social worker. Anything beat what had happened to him when he first got here, being held down for a shot of Haldol in his ass to turn him into a zombie for forty-eight hours.
“Hey,” the Liam-ratfucker said.
Scott stared at the wood grain of the door. Part of it looked like a freaky skeleton with a big alien head.
“Let’s just settle this now,” Liam-can’t-buy-a-clue went on.
Scott dragged his feet in from his sprawl to get ready. If he had to go to the hole, so be it. Rep was all he had. “You wanna go again, bitch?”
But Liam didn’t make any moves toward him. “No. I mean, I’m sorry I touched your box of whatever.”
There wasn’t much in the old shoebox. Two fading pictures, a Batman valentine his older sister had given him, and a Rugrats washcloth—though where he’d gotten that, he couldn’t remember.
“You put it in the fucking trash.”
“I said sorry, okay? I didn’t know it was important.”
That was a problem. As soon as people knew something mattered to you, they could hurt you with it. Scott shrugged. “Just don’t touch any of my shit, and it won’t be a problem.”
“Okay.”
Scott stared at Liam. He wasn’t acting scared of another beatdown, didn’t sound sarcastic. He sounded nice, and not even fake nice like a new social worker. Liam had been at St. Bennie’s for a month and people liked him. Reason enough for Scott to hate him. Not that he needed a reason.
The social worker finally showed up. Shit. It was that bitch Kristin who hated Scott. His and Liam’s hall staff Derrick was with her.
She started in on him before she even opened the conference room door. “I’ve told you before, Scott, violent behavior is not going to help you get out of here. A foster family is not—”
“It was my fault, Miss Kristin,” Liam-can’t-keep-his-mouth-shut cut in. The number-one rule of survival here was Don’t volunteer information.
That stopped her midbitch, though. “Liam? Derrick, let me see the incident report.”
“Put it in your mailbox an hour ago.” Derrick leaned against the wall behind Scott.
“Well, can you at least tell me what it said?” Bitch Kristin sighed like Derrick should have been able to whip the paper out of his ass.
“Eight twenty, Scott came into the common room, hauled Liam off the couch by his left arm, and punched him in the mouth. Liam swung back, striking Scott in the face. I initiated a restraint on Scott. Gerry restrained Liam.”
Derrick was big, solid muscle. If he took you down, you didn’t get back up. Gerry was big too, all of it in his gut. Scott wondered if that was the first time Liam had been restrained and how he liked three hundred pounds pressing into his back.
“So it was unprovoked.” Bitch Kristin was happy about that.
“I did provoke him.” Liam must have wanted to spend a couple days in the hole. “I threw his belongings in the trash.”
Belongings? Who the fuck said that kind of shit?
Kristin deflated. “Why would you do that to your roommate, Liam?”
“Someone dared me to.”
“Who?”
Liam was smart enough to shut his mouth then. Henry, Scott bet, or Curtis. They’d both been laughing next to Liam on the couch.
Liam turned toward Scott. “I’m sorry, Scott. I promise not to touch your stuff again.” Liam stuck his hand out.
Scott felt the adults’ eyes burning into him but concentrated on Liam’s. They were a mud-mix of brown and yellow-green, one swollen from where Scott had punched him, but the other looked friendly.
What the fuck. Guy like Liam would probably be out of here in a couple months. Scott flexed his sore knuckles and slapped at Liam’s hand in a brief shake.
They’d missed the main lunch, but Derrick took them down to the cafeteria so they could make sandwiches before going to class.
“Jesus, that Kristin has it in for you.” Liam reached in front of Scott to grab a giant scoop of institutional peanut butter from the can. “Whadja do?” He licked the knife and stuck it back in, barely missing Scott’s belly.
He curved his spine out to avoid the touch, but it still made the hair on his arms stand up.
“Got born, I guess. Plus I’m unplaceable.”
Liam dropped a dab of jelly on his mountain of peanut butter and folded the bread over, then repeated the process on the other half.
Scott had never seen anyone make a sandwich like that, but it looked like a good way to get some extra food.
“My mom will probably get clean in a couple of months, and she’ll petition to get me back.” Liam folded his second slice. “At least this place is better than the one I got sent to in Florida.”
They hadn’t said more than ten words to each other since Liam had been shoved into Scott’s room a month ago, just when he’d been hoping they’d given up on sticking him with a roommate.
“What’s so better?” Scott said, slapping margarine on a slice of bread.
“Smaller roaches.” Liam laughed.
But Scott remembered there was more of an issue to resolve. They grabbed juice cups and the least soft apples from the bin before they sat at a table and ate slowly to kill more time.
“Who dared you?” Scott muttered low enough that Derrick couldn’t hear.
Liam wiped his face on the back of his hand and shook his head. He moved his eyes toward where Derrick was leaning on the counter, peeling an orange. “Later.”
“Yeah, whatever.” Scott could find out himself. He didn’t need Liam and his fake niceness.
“No. Really. Promise.” Liam tried a big smile, then winced.
Fuck it. Scott wasn’t apologizing for hitting him. Ratfucker had it coming.
In their room that night after showers, they had about twenty minutes before bed check. Scott shot a quick look to make sure nothing had been disturbed in front of his new hiding place, hauled up his boxers under his towel, then tossed it away before getting in Liam’s face. “Who the fuck dared you to mess with my shit?”
“No one.”
“I swear to God—”
“No one. I did it on my own.”
Scott was so surprised, he sat down on the bottom bunk. Should have known better than to believe Liam was anything but another asshole trying to fuck with Scott.
“I wanted you to talk to me.”
“You’ll be talking to my fist again in a minute.” Scott jumped back up.
“You never talk to me, but I’ve seen you shoot me looks. When you think I don’t notice.”
Scott froze. Liam couldn’t mean it like that. No one could know that. Not ever. Scott had that safely locked away. Safer than the shoebox, safe as it could be, deep inside. Even he only let himself think about it late at night, staring at the ceiling and hating it even when it made him so fucking hard he ached. Liam had been the first one with a face. Before it had just been pieces. The curve of some guy’s ass. The cut of a hip. Width of a shoulder. Mouths. Dicks.
“In your dreams, queerbait.” Safest thing was to throw it back on him.
Liam rolled his eyes. “Yeah. I am.”
Scott’s mouth went dry. This little fa… he could just say it?
Liam put a hand on Scott’s chest.
Hot. Shivery. Terrifying.
Scott’s muscles locked down under those sensations, which was how Liam managed to shove him back onto the bunk, so hard Scott bounced against the bolted furniture and thin mattress.
It was why he still couldn’t say a word when Liam knelt in front of him.
Barry, the night staff, yelled for everyone to get in their rooms.
Liam winked his unswollen eye. “Fifteen before bed check. Wanna fight some more or want me to blow you?”
Twelve years ago
THE NEW kid, Liam, was a fucking punk. Everyone knew not to touch Scott’s stuff.
Scott ran his tongue on the inside of his fat lip. He’d won anyway. Hit the motherfucker in his eye, mouth, and gut before Derrick pulled them apart. Scott shot a look over at the chair three spots away where Liam sat. Fuckface smiled back at him.
Scott rolled his eyes and went back to staring at the door to the conference room. Some social worker was supposed to show up and counsel them on resolving their issues. Scott had been through the drill before. He thought things were pretty simple. Don’t touch me or my stuff and there won’t be any fucking issues to resolve.
But Scott had done a few stints in the hole, which was what everyone at St. Bennie’s called the lockdown rooms over the gym. A mattress and a bucket to piss in and food when someone got around to bringing it. He’d play the game with the social worker. Anything beat what had happened to him when he first got here, being held down for a shot of Haldol in his ass to turn him into a zombie for forty-eight hours.
“Hey,” the Liam-ratfucker said.
Scott stared at the wood grain of the door. Part of it looked like a freaky skeleton with a big alien head.
“Let’s just settle this now,” Liam-can’t-buy-a-clue went on.
Scott dragged his feet in from his sprawl to get ready. If he had to go to the hole, so be it. Rep was all he had. “You wanna go again, bitch?”
But Liam didn’t make any moves toward him. “No. I mean, I’m sorry I touched your box of whatever.”
There wasn’t much in the old shoebox. Two fading pictures, a Batman valentine his older sister had given him, and a Rugrats washcloth—though where he’d gotten that, he couldn’t remember.
“You put it in the fucking trash.”
“I said sorry, okay? I didn’t know it was important.”
That was a problem. As soon as people knew something mattered to you, they could hurt you with it. Scott shrugged. “Just don’t touch any of my shit, and it won’t be a problem.”
“Okay.”
Scott stared at Liam. He wasn’t acting scared of another beatdown, didn’t sound sarcastic. He sounded nice, and not even fake nice like a new social worker. Liam had been at St. Bennie’s for a month and people liked him. Reason enough for Scott to hate him. Not that he needed a reason.
The social worker finally showed up. Shit. It was that bitch Kristin who hated Scott. His and Liam’s hall staff Derrick was with her.
She started in on him before she even opened the conference room door. “I’ve told you before, Scott, violent behavior is not going to help you get out of here. A foster family is not—”
“It was my fault, Miss Kristin,” Liam-can’t-keep-his-mouth-shut cut in. The number-one rule of survival here was Don’t volunteer information.
That stopped her midbitch, though. “Liam? Derrick, let me see the incident report.”
“Put it in your mailbox an hour ago.” Derrick leaned against the wall behind Scott.
“Well, can you at least tell me what it said?” Bitch Kristin sighed like Derrick should have been able to whip the paper out of his ass.
“Eight twenty, Scott came into the common room, hauled Liam off the couch by his left arm, and punched him in the mouth. Liam swung back, striking Scott in the face. I initiated a restraint on Scott. Gerry restrained Liam.”
Derrick was big, solid muscle. If he took you down, you didn’t get back up. Gerry was big too, all of it in his gut. Scott wondered if that was the first time Liam had been restrained and how he liked three hundred pounds pressing into his back.
“So it was unprovoked.” Bitch Kristin was happy about that.
“I did provoke him.” Liam must have wanted to spend a couple days in the hole. “I threw his belongings in the trash.”
Belongings? Who the fuck said that kind of shit?
Kristin deflated. “Why would you do that to your roommate, Liam?”
“Someone dared me to.”
“Who?”
Liam was smart enough to shut his mouth then. Henry, Scott bet, or Curtis. They’d both been laughing next to Liam on the couch.
Liam turned toward Scott. “I’m sorry, Scott. I promise not to touch your stuff again.” Liam stuck his hand out.
Scott felt the adults’ eyes burning into him but concentrated on Liam’s. They were a mud-mix of brown and yellow-green, one swollen from where Scott had punched him, but the other looked friendly.
What the fuck. Guy like Liam would probably be out of here in a couple months. Scott flexed his sore knuckles and slapped at Liam’s hand in a brief shake.
They’d missed the main lunch, but Derrick took them down to the cafeteria so they could make sandwiches before going to class.
“Jesus, that Kristin has it in for you.” Liam reached in front of Scott to grab a giant scoop of institutional peanut butter from the can. “Whadja do?” He licked the knife and stuck it back in, barely missing Scott’s belly.
He curved his spine out to avoid the touch, but it still made the hair on his arms stand up.
“Got born, I guess. Plus I’m unplaceable.”
Liam dropped a dab of jelly on his mountain of peanut butter and folded the bread over, then repeated the process on the other half.
Scott had never seen anyone make a sandwich like that, but it looked like a good way to get some extra food.
“My mom will probably get clean in a couple of months, and she’ll petition to get me back.” Liam folded his second slice. “At least this place is better than the one I got sent to in Florida.”
They hadn’t said more than ten words to each other since Liam had been shoved into Scott’s room a month ago, just when he’d been hoping they’d given up on sticking him with a roommate.
“What’s so better?” Scott said, slapping margarine on a slice of bread.
“Smaller roaches.” Liam laughed.
But Scott remembered there was more of an issue to resolve. They grabbed juice cups and the least soft apples from the bin before they sat at a table and ate slowly to kill more time.
“Who dared you?” Scott muttered low enough that Derrick couldn’t hear.
Liam wiped his face on the back of his hand and shook his head. He moved his eyes toward where Derrick was leaning on the counter, peeling an orange. “Later.”
“Yeah, whatever.” Scott could find out himself. He didn’t need Liam and his fake niceness.
“No. Really. Promise.” Liam tried a big smile, then winced.
Fuck it. Scott wasn’t apologizing for hitting him. Ratfucker had it coming.
In their room that night after showers, they had about twenty minutes before bed check. Scott shot a quick look to make sure nothing had been disturbed in front of his new hiding place, hauled up his boxers under his towel, then tossed it away before getting in Liam’s face. “Who the fuck dared you to mess with my shit?”
“No one.”
“I swear to God—”
“No one. I did it on my own.”
Scott was so surprised, he sat down on the bottom bunk. Should have known better than to believe Liam was anything but another asshole trying to fuck with Scott.
“I wanted you to talk to me.”
“You’ll be talking to my fist again in a minute.” Scott jumped back up.
“You never talk to me, but I’ve seen you shoot me looks. When you think I don’t notice.”
Scott froze. Liam couldn’t mean it like that. No one could know that. Not ever. Scott had that safely locked away. Safer than the shoebox, safe as it could be, deep inside. Even he only let himself think about it late at night, staring at the ceiling and hating it even when it made him so fucking hard he ached. Liam had been the first one with a face. Before it had just been pieces. The curve of some guy’s ass. The cut of a hip. Width of a shoulder. Mouths. Dicks.
“In your dreams, queerbait.” Safest thing was to throw it back on him.
Liam rolled his eyes. “Yeah. I am.”
Scott’s mouth went dry. This little fa… he could just say it?
Liam put a hand on Scott’s chest.
Hot. Shivery. Terrifying.
Scott’s muscles locked down under those sensations, which was how Liam managed to shove him back onto the bunk, so hard Scott bounced against the bolted furniture and thin mattress.
It was why he still couldn’t say a word when Liam knelt in front of him.
Barry, the night staff, yelled for everyone to get in their rooms.
Liam winked his unswollen eye. “Fifteen before bed check. Wanna fight some more or want me to blow you?”
K.A. usually just checks in for her mail as she's rarely in the real world. Her imaginary friends are so much fun to hang with. They're more interesting than she is to talk to, too. Feel free to email her with questions about them. If she has anything to say, she usually says it on Twitter. K.A. loves the amazing escapes fiction provides. In the real world, she lives with her wife in upstate NY and is grateful for all the stories in her head.
enjoyed the excerpt
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to this series!
ReplyDeleteOh, My! This sounds so, so good!
ReplyDelete