Hey, y’all! I’m BA Tortuga, resident redneck and lover of all things cowboy.
I’d like to introduce y’all to Zack. He’s Josh’s best friend and he’s in crisis, so Josh and Kris have run down to Austin from Santa Fe to see him.
Zack let the water pound on him, the burning hot sting becoming more a lukewarm beating. Soon it would be icy cold.
“Zack? Zack, honey? You okay?”
For a moment he didn’t recognize the voice. Josh. Okay. Right. He’d snuck in here and turned on the water so he could have a meltdown without waking anyone.
“You don’t look okay.” Josh felt the water and winced. “Okay, man. Up.”
The crisp order was pure cowboy, but when Zack looked up, all he saw was Josh.
“I’m all wet.” Zack couldn’t get his arms and legs to move. “I’m pathetic, aren’t I?”
“Stop it.” Josh turned off the water, staring down at him. “You’re hurting, but this isn’t helping. Get your ass up.”
“Okay.” He got up, if for no other reason than he couldn’t stand Josh’s disapproval.
“Good man.” Josh wrapped him in towels, drying him off. “Come on. Bed. You have to rest.”
“I need to get Kris his rolls.”
“Zack, it’s 6:00 a.m. Go to bed. We’ll wake you up for supper.”
“I can’t. I can’t do it.” He wasn’t ever going to sleep without nightmares again. Never. He was going to see Ray hanging there, piss running down his leg, pooling on the tile.
“Bullshit you can’t.” Kris stood there for a second, then grabbed him up like he was a toddler. “We’re going to bed. All three of us. And we’re going to fucking sleep. All of us.”
“I—is that okay?” He blinked, trying hard to get his shit together.
“Yes. Come on, baby. Pull the sheets back.”
“I’m on it.”
“They’re clean.” Zack’s teeth began to chatter. Cold.
“You said. Come on, buddy. We’ll warm you up.” Josh pulled him into the bed, and Kris landed on his other side.
“You gonna be weird if I take my shirt and belt off, man? I mean nothing by it.”
Josh chuckled softly. “I promise to protect you both from each other.”
“Ha.” Zack grinned faintly. “You can take it all off. I’m too tired to even try.”
They were solid and warm beside him, bracketing him and keeping him safe.
He breathed deep, trying to calm down enough to sleep. He needed it. Really. Sleep would help.
Josh kissed his cheek, but it was Kris who rested one big hand on his chest. “Sleep. I got y’all. I swear to God.”
“Thank you.” Somehow that was enough to settle him, to stop the ridiculous pounding in his heart and his head.
Zack closed his eyes, choosing to trust.
Then he slept.
”
Much love, y’all.
BA
Slip blurb:
Recovery: Book Two
Love is a fragile thing, and it can slip through your fingers if you don’t hold on tight….
When Zack Jung’s AA sponsor and friend commits suicide, he’s desperate to hold it together, and there’s only one place he can turn. He calls Josh and Kris, and they take him back to their ranch outside Santa Fe.
A cowboy to the bone, Cimarron Duran cherishes his orderly life and routine. He likes his neighbors, Kris and Josh, but he has less than no interest in the hipster personal trainer who comes to stay with them—or at least, he plans to fight his interest in favor of his solitary life and his art.
But some things are as inevitable as the weather, and when Zack and Cimarron finally come together, they find they don’t want to let go. It won’t be easy, though, for two men with pasts like theirs to forge a happy future together.
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About BA Tortuga
Texan to the bone and an unrepentant Daddy’s Girl, BA Tortuga spends her days with her basset hounds and her beloved wife, texting her sisters, and eating Mexican food. When she’s not doing that, she’s writing. She spends her days off watching rodeo, knitting and surfing Pinterest in the name of research. BA’s personal saviors include her wife, Julia Talbot, her best friend, Sean Michael, and coffee. Lots of coffee. Really good coffee.
Having written everything from fist-fighting rednecks to hard-core cowboys to werewolves, BA does her damnedest to tell the stories of her heart, which was raised in Northeast Texas, but has heard the call of the high desert and lives in the Sandias. With books ranging from hard-hitting GLBT romance, to fiery menages, to the most traditional of love stories, BA refuses to be pigeon-holed by anyone but the voices in her head. Find her on the web at www.batortuga.com